Frontier 02: Rebirthing
by madjack89
Summary: Sequel to Frontier 02: Home Frontier. The gang is headed for the Digital World, but what evils await them there? I'll give you a hint: Lucemon! As for romance, this has KouichixZoe, TakuyaxOC, JPxOC, KoujixOC...a lot of OCs, kay? Hope you enjoy!
1. Ch 1: Heading Out

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing- Chapter 1: Heading Out**

_madjack89:_ I'm baaaaaack! Did you miss me?

_Everyone:_ Madjack!

_Takuya:_ Finally we can get on with the story!

_madjack89:_ Yes we can, Taki! But first…

_Kouji:_ I hate it when she says that.

_madjack89:_ …I'll recap everything that happened in Frontier 02: Home Frontier!

_Kouichi:_ Um, why?

_JP:_ Yeah, if anyone is reading this, it'll be the people that already read F2HF, and I doubt they need a…

_madjack89:_ I WANT TO DO IT!

_JP:_ Um…okay then.

_madjack89:_ Yay! Okay, let's see. It all started about a year after the original series, and everyone randomly got their D-Tectors back! Yay! And there were four new kids that got D-Tectors! Yay! So the gang found these other kids (quite by accident) and told them what the heck was going on. Their names were Kira (Ranamon), Shino (Arbormon), Daiki (Grumblemon), and Hotaru (Mercurymon).

_Daiki:_ Call me Dai!

_madjack89:_ Oh yeah, he likes to be called Dai.

_Daiki:_ Thank you!

_madjack89:_ Here's what basically happened after that. They went to a dance, and there they met Gatomon. They thought she was just a nice little lost Digimon, but she was actually working undercover for Ilsemon, a dark demonish Digimon.

_Kira:_ And Taki was an idiot!

_madjack89:_ I'm getting there, Kira. After the dance, Hotaru got all mad at everyone for not treating Dai like one of the group. But then they saved Dai from a Digimon, so he warmed up to them a little.

_Hotaru:_ Can you blame me?_ Hotaru's line count: 1_ You're counting? _HLC: 2_ Jeez… _HLC: 3_

_madjack89:_ After that, the gang forced Taki and Kira into a closet together, and they confessed their love for each other! But on the other side of the romance chart, Kouichi got the feeling that he and Zoe are never gonna get together! No!

_Shino:_ Partially my fault.

_Zoe:_ In what way?

_Shino and Kouichi:_ Uh…

_Zoe:_ Hey, you guys are hiding something, aren't you?

_madjack89:_ Calm down, Zoe. You'll find out eventually…thatshinolovesyoutoo.

_Zoe:_ What?

_madjack89:_ Moving on! After that, Gatomon's brother, Wizardmon, had set up a special attack with Ilsemon, and they decided to do a "test run" on Kouichi. Unfortunately, Kouichi ended up attacking Kouji in the process of this test, got freaked, and ran away!

_Kouji:_ It really didn't require any running away, though.

_Kouichi:_ I'm sorry.

_Kouji:_ Stop apologizing!

_Kouichi:_ I'm sor…no wait…ah!

_madjack89:_ About a week later, Takuya and Kouji found Kouichi being held captive by Wizardmon, who attempted to unleash the full extent of the attack on Kouichi. But before it hit Kouichi, Kouji jumped in front of him and took the attack himself, though the affects didn't come into play until about a month later.

_Kouji:_ Oh, great…

_madjack89:_ Ilsemon, working through the attack, used Kouji's grief-stricken memories of his crush, Seiko, who died in a car crash protecting him, to gain control over him and make him want to kill the others! No! Meanwhile, Kouichi and Zoe FINALLY got together!

_JP:_ And Tomoyo started to sneak her little way into my heart!

_madjack89:_ Takuya, Zoe, and Kouichi confronted Kouji in a temple and Kouichi began to remember something connected with his transformation into Duskmon…

_Kouichi:_ I did?

_madjack89:_ Zoe retreated with the immobilized Kouichi while Takuya and Kouji began to fight! Meanwhile, the burn that Shino got from his fight with Wizardmon is revealed to be able to track Wizardmon! But as Wizardmon is about to deliver the final blow in their fight, Shino found the strength inside him to Beast Spirit Evolve!

_Shino:_ Yay for me.

_madjack89:_ Meanwhile (again), Ilsemon realized she needed to cover up some memories that should have been sealed in Kouichi, replacing them with Kouji's memory of Seiko's death. Horrified, Kouichi rushed to get to Kouji, dragging Zoe with him. Zoe, on the other hand, is concerned about Kouichi not knowing what had happened to him.

_Kouichi:_ What happened to me?

_madjack89:_ To close this arc, Gatomon brought her sister, Witchmon, to the human world to cure Kouji. Wizardmon, badly injured from his bout with Shino, used the last of his strength to kidnap Gatomon and transport them somewhere!

_Takuya:_ Jerk.

_madjack89:_ After another few months or so, Ilsemon sent some of her loyal Digimon servants to provoke the gang! These Digimon were Renamon, Impmon, and none other than Duskmon!

_Kouji:_ Speaking of jerks…

_madjack89:_ After a LONG series of fights (in which Kouichi was taunted by Duskmon, JP and Tomoyo got together, Shino learned about Kouichi's full past, and tons of other stuff) Ilsemon's Digimon retreated, saying they'd see the gang again in the Digital World. Taking this as a challenge, Takuya and the gang decided to head to the Digital World!

_JP:_ Jeez, we've done a lot of crap!

_Hotaru:_ And we'll just keep doing more. _HLC: 4_ I promise I'll talk more in this, okay? I'm just kind of a shy person.

_madjack89:_ Okay, fine. I understand cause I'm like that, too (shock)!

_Tommy:_ Can we start the chapter now?

_madjack89:_ Sure! But before that, there are a couple things I have to clarify!

_Takuya:_ Like?

_madjack89:_ Well, at this point, Hotaru and JP are 14, Kouji, Kouichi, Kira, and Shino are 13, Dai, Zoe, and Taki are 12, and Tommy has turned 11!

_Tommy:_ Wow, that's the same age you guys were when we went to the Digital World the first time!

_JP:_ You sure are growing fast, kid.

_Takuya:_ Stop growing!

_madjack89:_ Okay, time for all your questions to be answered, because here we go!

—

Steam billowed from the cave as a cloaked figure stepped up to its opening, peering inside curiously. She stared into the cave for a moment, trying to figure out what was inside. Or who, for that matter.

After a moment, she snickered. "Looks like someone needs a wake-up call," she muttered, a small ball of light appearing in the palm of her hand. She held the light out and began to walk slowly into the cave.

The light illuminated the figure she had been looking for. It looked mostly like a train, the only difference being that it had a face and was snoring loudly, smoke coming from its open mouth.

"Hey Worm! Wake up!" the cloaked figure yelled suddenly, causing the train to jump.

Worm looked around the cave frantically until his eyes rested on the cloaked figure. When he saw her, he relaxed. "Jeez, Witchmon, you almost gave me a heart attack. I thought that SHE had finally found me or something."

"Isn't that everyone's fear these days?" Witchmon muttered, getting back to her point. "Anyway Worm, I've got a special mission for you."

"If it involves going to the Dark Area, I already said no," Worm said vehemently, eyes narrowing.

"It's even more important than that," Witchmon said, smiling. "Do you remember the route to the human world station?"

Worm glanced at Witchmon curiously. "Sure, no Trailmon ever forgets a route they've taken. Why?"

Witchmon glanced around her, quickly extinguishing her light. "Because the legendary warriors are about to rise again!"

—

Takuya stepped slowly out the door of his room, lingering in the opening for a moment. He turned, staring back at his room wistfully. He shook his head quickly, his determined expression returning.

_I've got a mission,_ he thought, walking down the hall as he would any old day. He paused at his door, grabbing his hat and goggles from their hook by the door. He put them on, smirking to himself.

"No one would recognize me without these babies," he said to himself, positioning his famed goggle firmly on his forehead.

"You're leaving now, aren't you?" Takuya turned, seeing his younger brother standing behind him, looking sad.

"Shinya," Takuya began.

"Here!" Shinya suddenly exclaimed, holding out a salamander shaped keychain.

Takuya stared at it for a moment. "Is this for me?"

Shinya nodded, trying not to let his brother see he was near tears. "It's for luck," he mumbled. "It's a salamander, to represent fire."

Takuya smiled, ruffling his brother's hair and grabbing the keychain. "I'm sure it'll give me lots of luck," he said. "Not that I'll need it. Ilsemon won't know what hit her; you'll see."

Shinya nodded, grinning at his brother's overconfidence. "Just be careful."

"I should be telling you that. You're the one who has to explain to Mom where I am when I don't come home." Takuya shuddered, picturing his mother's furious expression.

"Chikao said he'd help," Shinya said.

"Yeah," Takuya said, smiling slowly. "Take care of things while I'm gone, okay?"

Shinya was about to answer when there was a sudden knock on the door. Takuya turned and opened it to the young warrior of ice, Tommy.

Shinya narrowed his eyes as Takuya smiled at Tommy. "Ready?" Takuya asked briefly.

Tommy smiled back. "Of course I am." He then turned to Shinya and said, "Try to be careful, okay?"

"Sure," Shinya muttered quickly, staring at the floor to hide the jealousy he knew must be plastered all over his face.

Tommy nodded, turning around and walking down Takuya's front steps. Takuya stepped out the door and, with a quick reassuring glance at his brother, closed the door and headed out to meet the rest of his friends.

Shinya stared at the closed door for another moment, then scowled. "Yeah, good luck," he muttered angrily to himself, wiping away the tears rolling down his cheeks.

—

_DING DONG_! Mrs. Orimoto walked quickly to the front door, opening it for the two boys standing outside. She smiled invitingly when she recognized the boys as her daughter's friend and boyfriend.

"Hello Kouichi. Hello Kouji," she greeted both the boys. They nodded in return. "I'll just go get Zoe for you," Mrs. Orimoto continued, turning in order to call to her daughter.

"It's okay, I'm here!" Suddenly Zoe appeared from the other room, stuffing her D-Tector hastily into her pocket. She turned to her two friends and said, "Guess it's time to go."

"We can give you minute," Kouichi began, glancing at Mrs. Orimoto.

Zoe shook her head slowly, looking determined. "No, I'm ready. Let's go."

Mrs. Orimoto looked curiously at the three children. "Where exactly will you be headed?" she asked, eyeing her daughter suspiciously.

Zoe looked at her mother, then at Kouichi. "You're suspicious of Kouichi Kimura?" she asked her mom sarcastically.

"Okay, maybe not Kouichi," she muttered, glancing in the twins' direction. "But that isn't really what I'm worried about. I just… I worry about you sometimes."

Zoe looked sad for a moment, but quickly covered this expression with a look of reassurance. "Don't worry, Mom. I'll be back soon."

Mrs. Orimoto paused then smiled. "I'll see you later, then."

"Hopefully," Zoe murmured to herself, walking quickly down her walk with the twins following closely behind. She sighed in relief when she heard a door shut behind her.

"Your mom's been getting suspicious too," Kouji stated as the three continued down the sidewalk.

"Your mom thinks something's up, too?" Zoe asked, staring at Kouichi.

Kouichi paused, suddenly looking uneasy. "Kouichi," Kouji muttered sympathetically.

Zoe blinked, confused. "What is it, guys? What happened?"

"…I had to tell my mom…everything," Kouichi mumbled regretfully.

"Everything…as in Spirit Evolving everything?" Zoe exclaimed, eyes widening. "Oh my god, Kouichi, what did she do?"

Kouichi took a breath and said, "I don't know. She…she knew that something was going on with me and…she just dragged the truth out of me…even about Duskmon."

"She even knows about the rest of us now," Kouji added, looking worried himself. "But we still don't know how she took all of this."

Zoe paused, lacing her fingers with Kouichi's. "Your mother's an understanding person, guys," she said, glancing reassuringly at the two. "I'm sure she'll come around, if she hasn't already."

"It wasn't the Spirit Evolving part I was worried about," Kouichi said, glancing anxiously at Zoe. "I told her EVERYTHING…I told my own mother that I almost caused the death of all of you…the death of her other son…if you'd seen the way she looked at me…"

"Oh no." Zoe squeezed Kouichi's hand harder, wanting to comfort him. "Did she…say anything?"

"No," Kouichi choked, holding back tears. "She just stared at me…"

"He showed up at my house last night saying he couldn't go back home," Kouji said quietly, continuing Kouichi's explanation for him. "He told me that he freaked out, Spirit Evolved and ran before Mom could say anything. But she didn't try to call…"

"This proves one thing," Kouichi said slowly, cutting off Zoe's next remark. "I can't tell the other four about Duskmon. I don't think I can handle them knowing the truth."

Zoe paused and then nodded. "Okay. If you aren't ready, we won't tell them. Right, Kouji?"

"Um, right," Kouji said, trying not to sound guilty. _Shino…_

—

Shino stepped out his front door, turning back to his sister as he went. "Remember Nanami, explain it to them slowly."

Nanami nodded dutifully. "Don't worry; even if everyone else's parents freak out, ours will remain cool as cucumbers!"

"Even when Mom finds out I stole some of her stash of medical supplies?" Shino asked, gesturing to the bag slung over his shoulder.

"It's for a good cause," Nanami said, smiling. Her smile began to fade as she continued, "I'm going to miss you. All of you. Especially Tom-Tom…"

Shino flinched, trying to fight back his own pang of longing. "We're a lot alike," he mumbled to himself.

"What?" Nanami asked.

"Nothing," Shino said quickly, turning around. "Well, I guess this is goodbye for awhile."

"Good luck," Nanami called as Shino began to walk down the street, headed for the biggest adventure of his life.

—

"This is gonna be the biggest adventure of our lives!" Daiki said, skipping merrily through the subway station. A camera bounced against his chest as he went down the steps two at a time, a big smile on his face.

"And you'll be taking pictures the whole time," Hotaru muttered, sighing as he, too, came down the steps, though taking them at a much more leisurely pace than Dai.

Dai turned and smirked at his cousin. "Well, someone has to preserve the memory of our fantastical adventures!" he said, taking a picture of Hotaru.

Hotaru blinked, looking amused. "If that picture sucked, please delete it."

"Fine," Dai muttered, pressing a button on his camera. "So, which way to that elevator again?"

Hotaru scanned the station for a moment, then shrugged. "I guess we'll find it eventually if we just walk around."

Dai nodded, continuing to skip through the station. Suddenly, something occurred to him, and he said, "Hey Hotaru, you're getting a lot more lines now. It must be your new haircut!"

Hotaru sighed, looking exasperated. "Just keep skipping, Dai, just keep skipping…"

—

"Dai, Taru-kun!" Kira cried, spotting her two friends from across the station. "What the hell have you two been doing? We've been waiting here for hours!"

"Actually, it's only been about three minutes," said Kouji, checking his watch.

"Shut up, pretty boy!" Kira said angrily, glaring at Kouji.

"Well, now that we're all here, shall we go?" Zoe asked, glancing at the elevator doors behind them.

"Wait!" Everyone looked up and saw Tomoyo sprinting toward them, holding a big paper bag in her hand.

"Tomoyo, what are you doing here?" JP asked, looking quizzically at his girlfriend. "We already said goodbye."

"Oh, but I still have one mission to perform before you leave," Tomoyo said, grinning coyly. Everyone stared at her as she reached her hand slowly into her bag, pulling out…

"New outfits!" Tomoyo cried, holding up several articles of clothing.

"Uh, Tomoyo, we were just gonna wear what we wore last time," Zoe began.

"I know, but I want to add a new flare to your outfits," Tomoyo said. "Besides, it's about time Madjack started describing what we're wearing!" (Ha ha, very funny.)

"I start with JP, because he's going to need to go change into this somewhere," Tomoyo continued, holding up a pair of pants and a dark blue hoodie.

"And what's wrong with what I'm wearing?" JP asked, gesturing at his…you know what, JP? Don't argue, just change.

"Fine," JP muttered, grabbing the clothes and walking toward the bathroom.

"Next, I got Taki a new hat," said Tomoyo, producing a hat similar to his current hat from the bag. However, this hat black with a red visor-thingy.

"Not bad," Takuya said, replacing this hat with his other one and handing the other to Tomoyo. "What are you gonna do with our old stuff, anyway?"

"Probably sell it on E-Bay to some crazy fans who want to build a shrine to you," Tomoyo replied, shrugging.

After a pause, Kouji said, "You're keeping JP's stuff, aren't you?"

"Well…Kouichi, you're next!" Tomoyo turned to Kouichi, quickly changing the subject. "Off with your jacket, cause I got you a black one!"

Kouichi sighed, taking off his green jacket and replacing it with a long-sleeved black one. "How's it look?" he asked.

"You look awesome!" Zoe exclaimed, hugging Kouichi excitedly. He blushed as Zoe continued, "So, what do the rest of us get?"

"Well, you already took my advice and wore pants this time," Tomoyo began, gesturing to Zoe, "so now I think it's Tommy's turn!"

Tommy stared at Tomoyo's bag as she pulled out a green jacket similar to Kouichi's only small enough to fit him. "Yay, I get a jacket now!" he said, quickly putting on his new article of clothing.

"Why can he have a green jacket but I can't?" Kouichi muttered.

"Not my fault you look good in black," Tomoyo said, shrugging.

"Okay Tomoyo, this has to be the most cliché thing in the world," JP said, walking up to his friends and gesturing at the lightening bolt in the middle of his hoodie.

"But it looks good!" Tomoyo whined.

"She has a point, JP," Takuya said. "Besides, this hat she got me looks pretty cool!"

"Suck up," JP muttered.

"So what do we get?" Kira asked Tomoyo, pointing to her bag.

"Actually, that's it!" Tomoyo said. "The rest of your outfits look fine! Though I would have gotten a new bandana for Kouji, but that one has sentimental value, so I suppose it stays."

"Damn right it does," Kouji muttered to himself.

"Can we go now?" Dai asked, itching with excitement.

Takuya nodded, glancing at all of his friends. "Everybody ready?"

Everyone nodded. Suddenly, as if on cue, the doors to the elevator opened, seemingly waiting for them to enter.

"Yay!" Dai quickly took a picture of the open elevator and went inside, followed by Hotaru and everyone else. JP paused before entering, glancing back at Tomoyo.

Tomoyo's expression softened as she smiled sadly. "You be careful, okay?"

"I will," JP said, smiling back at her. Then he entered the elevator and the doors closed.

Everyone stood still for a moment, waiting for the elevator to begin its descent. Takuya broke the silence, saying, "You know, I think there's something we're forgetting about this elevator."

The elevator began to descend, seemingly normally. "What do you mean by that?" Shino asked Takuya. "This seems normal to me."

"Yeah, but there was something that happened last time," Takuya said, pondering.

Kouji's eyes widened with realization. "Guys, hang on," he said simply.

Before anyone could respond, the elevator suddenly began to drop faster, as if it were falling. Everyone quickly grabbed onto something, eyes wide.

After a moment of freefalling, the elevator came to an abrupt stop and the doors opened. "Oh yeah. That's what happens," Takuya said shakily.

"That elevator sure is a wild ride, huh guys!" Everyone looked down at the platforms of the station and saw Witchmon standing by one, smiling brightly at the group. Beside her sat Worm the Trailmon, who appeared to be taking a nap.

Witchmon smirked at their surprised expressions, saying, "Looks like I got your ride covered, huh?"

—

Shinya stood at the door, staring up at the man he had answered the door for. He instinctively shrunk back, blown away by the man's immense stature. He had on a brown overcoat and hat the obscured everything but his black eyes.

"Can I help you?" Shinya asked uneasily, taking a few more steps back.

The man stuck out his gloved hand, dark eyes gleaming. "I'm here to invite you to an audience with my lady, the dark beauty, Ilsemon," said the man.

"Ilsemon," Shinya muttered to himself, remembering his brother's warnings about the supposedly evil Digimon that was out to get the Digidestined. Shinya stared at the man before him, slowly coming to a conclusion. "You're not human, are you?"

Suddenly the man seemed to vanish, leaving his coat and hat to fall onto the floor. Shinya stared in horror as a black cat slinked out from under the coat and stared at him with the same dark eyes of the man.

"The invitation was mandatory," hissed the Digimon, leaping at Shinya.

—

_madjack89: _I'll just end it there, then!

_Takuya:_ Can someone say suspense!

_Kouji:_ Eh, not as bad as other chapters have been.

_madjack89:_ I know this chapter was pretty slow, but I had to get all this stuff out of the way before I could get to the good stuff, so stick with me here!

_Daiki:_ I say we have cake to celebrate the start of the sequel!

_JP:_ You always want cake, Dai.

_Daiki:_ But cake is good!

_madjack89:_ Sorry Dai, no cake today. Maybe in an upcoming chapter!

_Daiki:_ Okay!

_Takuya:_ So what's gonna happen in the next chapter?

_Zoe:_ Let's see. *_looks at cue card*_ Next time we meet up with Bokomon and Neemon and they tell us what's going on with Ilsemon and the Digital World.

_Takuya:_ Man, these are like filler chapters or something…

_madjack89:_ Deal with it Taki. Okay, I'll see ya next chapter!


	2. Ch 2: The New Threat

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing- Chapter 2: The New Threat**

_madjack89: _Hey guys! After that last chapter, I'll bet you're all wondering what's gonna happen next, aren't you?

_Takuya:_ Yeeeeeeeeessssss. _twitches_

_Everyone:_ …

_madjack89:_ Well, in this chapter, some of your questions will be answered like, who exactly are Masumon and Ilsemon? And what is the deal with Witchmon?

_Daiki:_ I just wanna go to the Digital World really badly!

_madjack89:_ Cool your jets, Dai. Worm'll get you there.

_Daiki:_ Worm?

_madjack89:_ Alright, time for the first review replies of the story!

_hazeleyedharmony: _Sorry about the wait, but here it is! You can thank my snow days (lol)! Anyway, let's get to answering this review!

intro- Yeah, Hotaru's pretty much integrated into the group now, so he gets more lines! Yay!

part 2- Salamanders are adorable! And I'm not gonna kill Shinya or anything (heh heh)…

part 3- Yeah, apparently the twins' mom is the most attentive. And he can be happy…eventually.

part 6- Seriously! I really HAD to do something about JP's outfit!

Thanks for reviewing!

_Aldamonburst:_ Oh my gosh, mutant duck duck? Ha, that's the perfect description of Neemon! Anyway, thanks for the review!

_fg1fg:_ I'm more familiar with Lucemon than Apocalymon (sorry)! And actually this time, the time won't be the same when they get back (for added drama). They don't know that yet, but they're just being cautious. Yeah, check E-Bay and you might find Taki's hat for sale! I'll put the cake in the story to make up for me forgetting about it (sorry)! Thanks for reviewing!

_nikigrl-123:_ Yay, brownies! Yummy! Thanks for the review!

_Dawn of Glory:_ Um, I can't really tell you who Kouji pairs up with yet, but it's gonna be good! And yes, I did actually get Shino's name from the creepy bug guy in Naruto! (_Shino:_ …) I just liked the name Shino. Anyway, thanks for the review! Believe it!

_greywindfalcon:_ It's all good (though I wondered where you were)! Ha, I'd be surprised if anyone at my school even knew where the stuff came from! Thanks for le review!

_agoodcupoftea:_ Yeah, but I just wanted to make sure everyone knew their outfits would be different. Especially JP! (I know you're a fan of his and, no offense, he NEEDED a new outfit!) Thanks!

_garnettfox:_ I might have to take you up on that offer soon. We'll see! Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_JewelledTears:_ Yes! I was gonna put it up at the very last second, but I decided you guys have waited long enough! The reason their outfits still fit is because I was NOT gonna come up with all new outfits for everyone! It took me long enough to come up with these slight alterations! So the old outfits stay (and fit)! I kind of liked how the black jacket looked on Kouichi when I imagined it, so sorry if you don't like it! You can imagine his shirt as pink if you want to, though! Okay, thanks for reviewing!

_Kayland Elric:_ Yay, I've returned! Yup, I did put the trailer up on youtube, but it doesn't play audio. If you want to see the audio version (which I highly recommend) then just go to the link in the video (let it play until the link pops up at the bottom). If for some reason that doesn't work, just e-mail me and I'll send it to you! And never fear, I will be getting Kouji with some Star Wars references soon (mua ha ha)! Okay, thanks for reviewing!

_GoldenDragon326:_ Yay confetti! Woohoo! (lol) Yeah, poor little Shinya's having bad luck. And you're correct in saying that the gang back in the human world will get dragged into this, but not for a little while. And yeah, I'll put Bokomon's book about them in the next chapter for some laughs! Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_madjack89:_ Alright, let's…

_Kouji:_ Burn up and go, right?

_madjack89:_ Actually, I was going to say let's start the chapter.

_Takuya:_ Mega super double burn with flame on top for you, Kouji!

_Kouji:_ …What?

_madjack89:_ Story time!

_**Disclaimer:**_** Oh yeah, I forgot this again, didn't I? Well, this is the last time I'm putting it, so listen up. I don't own Digimon Frontier or its characters! This is just a fan-based story! Got it? You sure? Good.**

--

"Witchmon!" everyone exclaimed, staring at the Digimon before them.

"That's my name!" Witchmon said, patting Worm's side. "Hey Worm, the kids are here!"

The Trailmon blinked sleepily, yawning. "About time you guys showed up," he muttered, glancing at the gang.

"Nice to see you, too," Kouji said sarcastically.

"That's one of those talking trains, right?" Kira asked, pointing at Worm.

"Yup, that's a Trailmon," Takuya replied. "This one's name is Worm."

"It has a face," Shino stated.

Dai quickly snapped a picture, looking excited. "This is already turning out to be better than I expected!"

"Alright, enough with the explanations! Hop onto Worm and let's go!" Witchmon motioned for the group to follow as she entered one of Worm's doors.

Everyone quickly followed Witchmon and soon Worm was on his way down the tunnel, carrying his passengers to the Digital World.

"Wow, this sure is cozy!" Dai exclaimed, plopping himself down on one of Worm's seats.

Shino looked at the seats quizzically. "Um, these aren't Worm's organs or anything, are they?"

The others considered Shino's question for a moment. Finally JP said, "You know, I never really thought about that! Eww…"

"Just sit down, Shino," Zoe said reassuringly. "If you try to rationalize everything that goes on in the Digital World, you'll drive yourself crazy."

"Yeah," Shino muttered, blushing as he sat.

Once everyone was seated, their attention returned to Witchmon. "So, where have you been all this time?" Kouji asked her.

Witchmon chuckled. "Well, I'll leave all the big explanations for later, but as to where I've been, I think that Kouichi can best answer that."

The others turned to look inquiringly at Kouichi. "Well," he began, looking slightly guilty, "I kind of wanted to talk to Gatomon again after Wizardmon captured her, and…I sort of asked Witchmon to find her for me. Sorry I didn't tell you guys before."

"But you didn't say anything like that when she left, Chief," Takuya said, confused.

"A look can speak volumes, kid," Witchmon said. "Kouichi gave me this look that just screamed 'go find your sister,' so I decided to humor him and go look for my idiot siblings."

"Then how did you know we were going to the Digital World?" Hotaru asked.

Before Witchmon could respond, Worm's train car suddenly lurched violently, sending everyone crashing to the floor. Witchmon quickly got up, looking out the window. "Oh no," she muttered.

Everyone else got up, looking out the same window as Witchmon. Outside the train car, in the tunnel leading from the station, were a large group of dark, bat-like Digimon, looking at the group with malicious grins on their faces.

"What the hell are those?" Kira asked, sticking her tongue out at one of the Digimon. It stuck its tongue out back at her.

"Well, I don't know what they're called, but it probably isn't a good idea to stick your tongue out at them, Kira," Takuya said, glaring at the Digimon.

"They're DemiDevimon," Witchmon explained. "They're a bunch of evil little twerps and if you were waiting for one of those little screen things that appear when a Digimon's attributes are explained, keep waiting, because we're not doing that crap this time."

"Aw man," JP said, looking disappointed.

"It's too dark for me to get a good picture," Dai muttered disappointedly.

Suddenly, the DemiDevimon's feet began to glow, and they launched glowing red darts at the windows of the car. Everyone got down on the floor just as the darts crashed through the glass, sticking into the opposite side of the car.

"By the way," Witchmon said, grinning sheepishly. "Don't let the darts hit you because they're filled with poison and if you get hit, you'll probably die."

"Thanks for the warning," Kouji said sarcastically. The train car lurched again, causing everyone to tumble clumsily onto one another. Takuya was thrown against a wall just as Kouichi tumbled into him, knocking the wind out of him. Before either of them could move, though, JP was thrown into them by another lurch of the train.

"That's it, I'm getting rid of these little pests," Witchmon said, getting to her feet and facing the window threateningly. "Aquari Pressure!" she exclaimed, shooting jets of water out of her hands at the DemiDevimon.

Each cried out in pain before being converted back into Digi-Eggs, which proceeded to float down the tunnel at a much faster rate than Worm.

"That should take care of that," Witchmon said, rubbing her hands together. "Everyone okay?"

"Except for Taki and Chief being crushed, I think we're good," Kira replied, trying not to giggle at the three boys lying dazed against the wall of the train car. Dai quickly snapped a picture.

"My spine," Takuya muttered.

--

Patamon paused in his flight, glancing at the Trailmon tracks leading into the Flame Terminal and sensing a familiar presence. Patamon turned to his two friends, Salamon and Lopmon, and noticed they were glancing in the same direction.

The three looked at each other for a moment, then smiled. "They're coming back!" they all said in unison.

--

"Talk about rough rides," Worm muttered. "You guys okay back there?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Witchmon replied, glancing out the window as the tunnel began to light up. "New guys, prepare yourselves for your first glimpse of the Digital World!"

"Yay!" Dai exclaimed, camera poised and ready.

The others looked out the windows anxiously, watching as the light in the tunnel got brighter and brighter until…

A Poyomon flew right in front of the train window, smiling at the passengers surprised faces. Dai brought his camera up and took a picture of the Poyomon, which caused it to giggle and fly around in a circle.

"Aw, that's a cute little blob," Kira said, smiling at the Poyomon.

"Wow, the Yankee has a soft side," Kouji muttered sarcastically. Kira responded by slapping Kouji, which caused the Poyomon to giggle harder.

Kouichi looked curiously out the window, then turned to Witchmon and asked, "What exactly is the problem in the Digital World now? I mean, last time, there were whole land masses missing from the landscape, but now it just looks normal."

"Or as normal as it gets in the Digital World," JP added as more Poyomon began to fly up to the train windows.

"That's not Ilsemon's goal," Witchmon explained quietly. "She's not after data. She's after…"

Before Witchmon could finish, the track suddenly curved straight upward, causing everyone to slam into the back of the car. Then the track flattened out again and everyone fell to the floor.

"Is it just me, or is this trip way more painful now than it was a couple years ago?" Takuya muttered to himself.

"Well, at least we're almost there," Zoe said suddenly, pointing out the approaching Flame Terminal. Everyone else looked out the window at the approaching terminal, anxiously anticipating their arrival.

"Ready guys?" Takuya asked, glancing around at his friends.

"Heck yes!" Dai replied just as Worm came to a halt, slowly opening his doors.

Everything outside the train was shrouded in smoke for a moment, causing everyone to shield their eyes. But when the smoke cleared, five familiar Digimon stood in front of Worm's door, excited and happy expressions on their faces.

"You're back!" exclaimed a white Digimon happily, tears brimming in his eyes. "Didn't I tell you they'd be back, Neemon?"

"Actually, you said just yesterday you thought they'd never come back," replied Neemon in his matter-of-fact way.

"I most certainly did not!" Bokomon said angrily, fuming at Neemon. Patamon, Salamon, and Lopmon waved cheerfully at the gang, innocent smiles on their faces.

Takuya and the original gang smiled at their old friends, glad to see them after so long. The other four merely stared curiously at the five Digimon before them, Dai snapping a picture.

The camera flash caused Bokomon to pause in the middle of snapping Neemon's waistband and look more closely at the recipients of the train car. He gasped suddenly, letting go of Neemon's waistband, which caused Neemon to fall over.

"Are those four…?" Bokomon began to ask slowly, staring at the other four inquiringly.

"Yup, these four are the newbie warriors," Witchmon said, exiting Worm. "Don't look like much, do they?"

"Excuse me," Kira grumbled, glaring at Witchmon.

"It's great to see you guys," Takuya said, exiting Worm along with the others.

After everyone had gotten off, Worm muttered a short goodbye and quickly continued down the tracks, disappearing from sight.

"What got him so jumpy?" JP asked.

"I think we need some answers to all these questions we have," Kouji said, getting straight to the point.

"Yes," Bokomon muttered softly, a sober expression crossing his face for a moment. "And I believe that introductions are in order," he added cheerfully, looking at Dai quizzically. Dai smiled back, barely able to contain his excitement.

Bokomon glanced at the others, confused. "We've got some explaining to do too," Zoe said, sighing at Dai.

--

A while later, the gang, including their Digimon companions, sat around the table in Bokomon and Neemon's house, which was located inside a big tree. However, the tree wasn't quite big enough to fit everyone in comfortably, and the gang was squished tight together while concluding their explanation of the things that had happened since they had last been to the Digital World.

"And then I came up with the brilliant idea to come to the Digital World, and here we are," Takuya concluded, the others smirking at his cockiness.

"Don't forget how me and Worm got you here safe and sound," Witchmon added.

"I see," Bokomon murmured, pondering all the things he had heard. "So Ilsemon has been watching you. That's not a good sign."

"Plus it's a bad sign," Neemon added, restating what Bokomon had just said.

While Bokomon bickered at Neemon, Patamon, Salamon, and Lopmon began to stare at Takuya, Kira, Kouichi, and Zoe curiously. The four stared back at the little Digimon, growing nervous.

"Um, what?" Takuya asked them, confused.

The three former Celestial Digimon glanced at each other and giggled. "Okay, what's so funny?" Kira asked, beginning to get annoyed.

"We noticed something," Lopmon began.

"We've wondered about this for a while," Salamon continued.

"But we think we've finally figured it out," Patamon said, finishing their thought.

The four stared at them, puzzled by their cryptic answer. "And that would be?" Zoe asked.

"Who got together with who!" the three small Digimon exclaimed.

"But don't tell us the answer," Lopmon said quickly before anyone could respond. "We've already got an answer."

"Kouichi and Zoe are together," Salamon said.

"And Takuya and Kira are together," Patamon said.

There was a brief pause before JP said, "Correct! And I am also currently off the market, in case you were wondering."

"We weren't," Patamon said sweetly.

JP glared at Patamon. "Little flying hamster…"

"Oh, you children have grown so much!" Bokomon cried. "Where do the years go? And you're already dating!"

"Well, yeah," Takuya said, rubbing his head sheepishly. Kouichi and Kira tried to hide their blushes while Zoe smiled at Bokomon.

"Okay, now that that's out of the way, can you finally answer some of our questions? Like, what is going on in the Digital World, anyway?" Kouji asked, getting back to the point.

"Right," Bokomon said, expression growing somber again. "So," he began, "how much do you know about Ilsemon, and do you know of a Digimon named Masumon?"

"Not much and no," Takuya replied.

"Well then, to begin, there are certain things that I didn't tell you about Lucemon two years ago," Bokomon said.

"Lucemon?" Shino asked.

"That big evil 'oh, I'm gonna enslave the human world cause I'm awesome' guy?" Kira added.

"Um, yes," Bokomon answered, looking quizzically at Kira. "Moving on, I hadn't thought this was important at the time, but back in his better days, Lucemon ruled over the Digital World with two confidants by his side: Ilsemon and Masumon."

"Dude, they're ancient!" Takuya exclaimed.

"There is another thing," Bokomon continued. "They are Lucemon's sisters."

"Lucemon had sisters?" Tommy asked, crossing his arms. "Where were they the last time we were here, then?"

"Sadly, we aren't quite sure. Ilsemon suddenly appeared one day, followed by Masumon," Bokomon said. "But Ilsemon wasted no time in recruiting followers. Now she has a full army of Digimon at her disposal."

"What about Masumon?" Kouji asked.

"Masumon's on our side, kid," Witchmon said suddenly. "Lucemon's sisters both represent either light or darkness. Ilsemon represents darkness, while Masumon represents light."

"Of course light's on our side," Kouji muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Ilsemon has a certain special ability that should also explain some events that occurred back in your world as well," Bokomon said, continuing his explanation. "She has the power to manipulate one's memories."

"Well, that doesn't seem so bad," JP said.

"Actually, it's pretty bad," Kouji said, suddenly realizing what Bokomon was getting at. "That's what happened to me, isn't it? Renamon mentioned it too."

"Wow," Takuya muttered. "She's a real bitch, isn't she?"

"Yeah she is, but Masumon's the complete opposite," Witchmon said. "She wouldn't hurt anything if she could help it. She's always trying to help everyone and do the right thing. Plus, she can enter into the dreams of those she's seen before, which is a good way to communicate secretly."

"How do you know so much about her?" Kouji asked suspiciously.

Witchmon smirked. "Man, you're paranoid. But, to answer your question, just as Wizardmon works for Ilsemon, I work under Masumon. Though it isn't so much work as it is learning all she can teach me, so I guess I'm actually kind of her student."

"Wait, if you're Masumon's student, then why aren't you with her now?" Shino asked Witchmon curiously.

"Well, that's the thing," Witchmon said, growing serious suddenly. "You see, Masumon always believed that the key to defeating Ilsemon would be the return of the legendary warriors."

"Us," Takuya muttered.

Witchmon nodded. "But there were problems with this theory. You guys didn't have your spirits anymore, and you didn't have your D-Tectors. Without these two things, there's not much you guys could do when it came to fighting. Plus, there was no way for us to contact you.

"So, to start, Masumon sent me to find these guys," Witchmon continued, gesturing at the three Celestial Digimon, "so that we could ask them how to go about making a D-Tector."

"These aren't our originals?" JP asked critically. "Rip-off."

"Oh, shut up, kid!" Witchmon said sullenly. "I worked hard on those things. It took me three weeks! Three freaking weeks!"

"Um, thank you," Kouichi murmured.

"We helped with the color scheme!" Patamon, Salamon, and Lopmon said in unison.

"Neemon and I gathered the necessary materials," Bokomon added.

"Okay, so you made our D-Tectors," Kira said, continuing the explanation. "Then how'd you get our spirits? Taki said it took forever to find them last time."

"Forever?" Witchmon asked, raising an eyebrow. "When Masumon and I found them, they were sitting in a cave."

"What?!" Takuya and JP exclaimed in disbelief.

"That is so not fair!" Zoe added.

"At least we have them now, guys," Kouji said calmly. "So I'm guessing that after that you found a way to send them to us, right?"

"That's where it gets complicated," Witchmon said, sighing. "We had just found the spirits and we were going to take them to you guys through a portal in this big chasm, but unfortunately, some of Ilsemon's spies had informed her of our whereabouts.

"Soon we were surrounded with no place to go. So Masumon turned to me and told me to back her up while she at least got the D-Tectors through the portal. So we started running, me firing attacks left and right. Then something suddenly hit me in the side, knocking me over. When I jumped up to counter whoever had attacked me, I saw Wizardmon, smirking at me."

"Asshole," Takuya muttered.

"Pretty much," Witchmon said, nodding. "He went on this little tirade about how he never would have gotten the power that he did if he hadn't gone to Ilsemon, yadda yadda yadda. I realized then that he wasn't my brother anymore, just an asshole."

"Exactly," Takuya agreed.

"But then something interesting happened," Witchmon continued. "Wizardmon was just about to finish me off when someone suddenly attacked him from behind. When I looked closer, I saw Gatomon pointing out a route through the trees that wasn't crawling with enemies. So I got up and I ran. That's when I realized that my brother may have been a lost cause, but not my sister."

"So what happened to Masumon?" Dai asked excitedly.

"As you can see, she got the D-Tectors through the portal safe and sound," Witchmon said. "But in the process, she was captured by Ilsemon. I haven't seen her since."

"So what you're basically saying is we have to save this Masumon chick and kick the crap out of Ilsemon?" JP asked. "We can handle that."

"There's one more thing you should know," Bokomon said suddenly. "You see, Ilsemon has one goal that she wishes to reach, and she will stop at nothing until she achieves it."

"And that goal would be?" Kouji asked.

Bokomon paused, then said ominously, "She wants to resurrect Lucemon."

--

_madjack89:_ Well, there you have it! I even gave you the story behind the prologue in F2HF! Aren't I nice?

_Kouji:_ Yeah, you're a real saint.

_madjack89:_ No need for sarcasm.

_Kouji:_ So you're admitting you're not a saint?

_madjack89:_ Well, I…uh…dang it, you're good!

_Kouji:_ Heh.

_Takuya:_ Hopefully there's more action in the next chapter.

_Kira:_ Yeah, these explanation chapters are boring!

_madjack89:_ Oh, be quiet! I have to explain the plot at some point!

_JP:_ There's a plot?

_Dai:_ Can I have the brownies from nikigrl-123 now?

_Hotaru:_ Go ahead.

_Dai:_ Yay!

_Shino:_ Speaking of which, wasn't Dai supposed to get a cake or something?

_madjack89:_ Yeah, I'll get it to him soon, but if I give it to him now, he may explode from the gigantic sugar overdose that would follow.

_Shino:_ That's true.

_madjack89:_ Alright, see ya later!


	3. Ch 3: Beast Spirit Blowout

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing- Chapter 3: Beast Spirit Blowout**

_madjack89:_ Hey there guys! It is time for the third chapter, where we can finally get on with the adventure instead of all this explaining!

_Everyone:_ Hooray!

_madjack89:_ But first the gang has to beat up on random evil Digimon number two!

_Everyone:_ …

_JP:_ That…kind of sucks.

_madjack89:_ Oh, boohoo! At least you'll get to kick the crap out of someone with your Beast Spirits!

_Zoe:_ This Digimon is gonna be Beast Spirit big?

_madjack89:_ We'll see…

_Kira and Dai:_ Does that mean we get our Beast Spirits?

_madjack89:_ No!

_Dai:_ Aw…

_Kira:_ Damn it.

_Hotaru:_ Well, I've heard my Beast Spirit isn't the most practical in battle, so I'm good.

_Takuya:_ Kira, I really don't think you want your Beast Spirit right now.

_Kira:_ Why not?

_Takuya:_ Well it's…um, you see, it's kind of…it's a little…

_Kira:_ You're hiding something from me.

_Takuya:_ Uh…oh, look at that! Time for reviews, right Madjack?

_madjack89:_ Okay Taki, I'll humor you. Review time!

_Dawn of Glory:_ That chapter didn't call for many lines from any of the newbies, so I didn't get a chance to give Hotaru much to say. Sorry! Anyway, I'm flattered that you consider me in the running for ultimate favorite author! Thank you! And don't worry, Dai shall eat cake. Alright, thanks for reviewing!

_NightmareSoldier:_ Hm, sounds cool, but I've already got the whole plot worked out! Maybe when they're done with this Ilsemon crap (lol). Gracias for the review, amigo (or amiga)!

_Aldamonburst:_ I'm glad you like Taki and Kira! They're one of the more fun couples to write about, I gotta say (along with KouichixZoe, because they're so cute together)! Wow, I had no clue there was an actual Neemon fan out there! That's awesome! I will try to portray him well! Alright, thanks for reviewing!

_hazeleyedharmony:_ Muchas gracias!

part 1: Yeah, I always wondered that, too! I mean, they just kind of hop inside the Trailmon! But whatev! Yeah, apparently the gang is forgetting how banged up you can get on Trailmon rides! I might as well tell you that the DemiDevimon were sent by Ilsemon (and they are like flying monkeys). Yeah, Witchmon's attack is like Harry Potter, but that is one of her attacks!

part 3: Oh man, that would have been a good idea! Dang it! Oh well, it'll be okay! Yeah, Dai plans on making a scrapbook with his pictures.

part 4: There's nothing to fear from Masumon, you'll see… (man I really want to get to that point in the story!) Dark and light is a stereotype, what can you do?

There weren't many places in this chapter that I felt Hotaru should get a line in. I can't just start giving lines out willy-nilly, after all! (lol) Okay, thanks for the review!

_greywindfalcon:_ Don't they always have to save somebody (lol)? Okay, thanks for reviewing!

_GoldenDragon326:_ Dai won't run out of film (probably)! And I find the screen things annoying, truthfully (that could be just me). Hm, playing duck duck goose? Nice! They probably would do that! And wow, I just realized I did the same thing with Gatomon that happened in Digimon Adventure without knowing it! Dang it! Oh well, whatever! Thanks for reviewing!

_garnettfox:_ Oh, don't worry, THIS resurrection will be a bit more interesting than normal Digimon ones, you'll see! But yeah, I'll concede that it is overworked. Okay, thanks for the review!

_Kayland Elric:_ Yeah, it is boring, but necessary. If I launched into the plot without explaining it first, I guarantee someone would get lost! It'll kick back into gear, don't worry! Thanks for reviewing!

_JewelledTears:_ Sorry, my mind's made up on the shirt. And you're right, Kouji is smart (smarter than me!). (_JP:_ I know that every story has a plot! I was trying to bash Madjack by saying her story didn't!) Backfired, huh? (_JP:_ Shut up, Madjack!) Man, everyone loves Dai, don't they? You give him all this sugar, he'll go on a crazed sugar fit or something (though you'd probably like that)! I'm working on Digital Clue, but for some reason, it's a slow process! Thanks for reviewing!

_fg1fg:_ Hm, I see. Truthfully, I never got through the very end of season one, though I had a basic idea of what happened, so thanks for telling me about Apocalymon! And now that you mention him, I think I might be able to do a story with him after all! We'll see. And, of course, you could start a story, too! I'm sure it would be good! Yay for flashbacks! And I'll get in the story again sometime, you'll see! Thanks for reviewing!

_agoodcupoftea:_ I have wondered about the Trailmon organs thing since the first episode of Digimon Frontier! And Dai could probably down a large amount of sugar, but sometimes I wonder if he even needs it to stay hyperactive! Alright, thanks for the review!

_madjack89:_ Okay, it is time for the next capitulo of F2R! Yay!

--

Ilsemon stood on a ledge of the Rose Morning Star, staring blankly at the darkness swirling around her, caressing her arms gently. She reached up, attempting to grab a bit of it, but it turned to a dark colored smoke in her grasp. She was staring at her hand curiously when Wizardmon popped up behind her, bowing slightly.

"So they've taken care of the DemiDevimon?" Ilsemon asked in a matter-of-fact way.

"Yes, milady," Wizardmon murmured in reply.

"Then they have passed the first test," Ilsemon said, turning swiftly around. "Let's see how they fair in the second."

"Yes, milady," Wizardmon murmured again, quickly bowing and rushing down the twisted path of the structure they stood in.

Ilsemon turned back one last time, staring at the swirling vortex behind her. "When you think about it, light and darkness really are one in the same," she pondered. "Right, Lucemon?"

--

"Man, that just plain ticks me off!" Takuya exclaimed, pounding a fist into his other hand in frustration.

"I know!" JP agreed enthusiastically. "You think you've gotten rid of a guy…"

"Well, Digimon come back all the time," Zoe said gently, trying to keep the two from going on a rampage. "In all honesty, we should have expected this."

"Yeah, but he should have been purified," Kouji grumbled, for once on the same side as Takuya and JP.

"Yeah!" Tommy added. "All the other Digimon we beat came back as nice little baby Digimon!"

Kouichi sighed, trying to stay out of the conversation as the group sat out under the last rays of sun shining over the Digital World. Witchmon was sleeping in Bokomon and Neemon's home, but since the gang barely fit into it in the first place, they elected to sleep outside under the trees for the night, partly to remind the original four of good times.

"C'mon guys, it'll be fine," Kira said, joining into the conversation. "After all, you got all ten legendary warriors this time, and we can kick some ass!"

"Kira has a point," Shino said.

"There's strength in numbers," Hotaru added, glancing back at Dai, who was taking a picture of a couple of Biyomon.

"No way," Takuya said quickly, cutting off Kira's next comment. "We are not facing Lucemon again."

"He is way more powerful than anything any of you four have faced yet," Kouji added ominously. "We have to stop Ilsemon from carrying out her plan at all costs."

"Yeah, but where do we start?" Zoe asked. "I mean, even if we got lucky and found where Ilsemon's hiding, what chance would ten of us have against an army?"

Everyone sat in silence for a moment, pondering what Zoe had said. Then Takuya said, "Well, so what? I'm sure with a little teamwork AND some strategy," he emphasized this part, glancing at Kouji, "we can beat whatever Ilsemon throws at us!"

"But we still don't know where she is," Kouichi pointed out.

JP sighed, patting a patch of grass flat. "Well, the best thing we can do now is get a good night's sleep," he muttered, flopping down on the ground. "And in case you don't recall, I was the last one on watch duty before we went home, so it's someone else's turn now."

"Of course you remember that, JP," Takuya said, rolling his eyes. "So, rock paper scissors?"

"Whatever you do, don't put Dai on watch," Hotaru cautioned, glancing at his cousin. "He gets distracted too easily."

Dai huffed, glaring at Hotaru. "I do not get distra…oh, another little blob!" Dai instantly forgot what he had been doing and approached the giggling Poyomon.

"See?" Hotaru said, sighing.

The others smirked at Dai, then started their game to decide who would take over watch duties for the first half of the night.

--

The dark Digimon looked up as it felt the presence of its mistress, Ilsemon. It went down on one knee instantly, muttering a short, "Milady."

Wizardmon walked up right beside her and Ilsemon said, "Rise, Cyberdramon. I have a certain task for you."

"Anything as long as it involves a good fight," Cyberdramon growling, flexing his claws threateningly.

Ilsemon smiled. "Well, then it's your lucky day, isn't it?"

--

Kouji sat on the ground, leaning against a tree. He scanned the forest again, searching for anything that could be lurking in the shadows or hiding behind a tree or bush. When he found nothing, he relaxed slightly, staring instead at the sleeping forms of his friends.

"Next time you won't beat me, Takuya," he muttered, remembering the earlier game of rock paper scissors he had lost to Takuya two to one.

His gaze drifted over each of his friends and finally settled on his brother, sleeping peacefully beside Zoe. He smiled, thinking, _Everything always seems so peaceful here at night._

Kouji gazed at the sky next, watching the stars twinkle and blink and blink…and blink…and…

Kouji opened his eyes, finding himself lying in a field of flowers, the sun shining pleasantly overhead. He got up, brushing flower petals off of his pants.

"Am I dreaming?" he wondered out loud. He turned around to see what else could be here and why this particular dream seemed to be so out-of-character.

He noticed a girl standing a few feet away, her back turned to him. His eyes narrowed. He knew what kind of dream this would be now, for he'd witnessed them thousands of times. Behind him was a girl that looked about Kouji's height and age. She had shoulder length dirty blonde hair and a graceful figure. She was crouched down and seemed to be searching through the flowers for something. But one additional thing she had was…

"Angel wings?" Kouji said, laughing bitterly. "Signifying that you're an angel? That's a new touch, isn't it, Seiko?"

The girl jumped and turned around. What Kouji usually saw in Seiko's eyes was love and affection that would quickly melt away with the blare of a car's horn. But this time, she stared at him in puzzlement and confusion.

Then she asked a single question. "Who are you?"

"Kouji!"

Kouji's eyes shot open, staring right into Kouichi's similar blue eyes. His brother smirked slightly at the startled expression on Kouji's face. Kouji slowly realized that he was back in the woods, surrounded by his sleeping friends.

"It's trade-off time," Kouichi said, referring to the fact that he was the second person picked for watch duty.

"Oh, right," Kouji muttered distractedly. He shook his head slowly, trying to get the odd dream he had just had out of his mind. _Who are you?_

Kouichi stared at Kouji for a few moments, concerned. "What's wrong? Did you have a…bad dream?"

Kouji paused for a moment, then replied, "Yeah, I guess I did."

Kouichi took a seat beside Kouji, staring at his hands. "Do you want to talk?"

"Not much to talk about," Kouji said. "It was a…usual one. I probably can't count the times I've had the exact same one." _No need to mention the last part. It doesn't mean anything, anyway…probably._

Kouichi sighed, glancing at his brother. "You're not alone in all this, you know. I'm here for you if you just want to talk, or even let go."

"I know that," Kouji mumbled.

Kouichi smirked slightly. "That does sound pretty redundant, doesn't it?"

"Yeah," Kouji replied, chuckling. After a few minutes, Kouji said, "Thanks, Kouichi. It helps to know you're there for me."

"No problem," Kouichi said, smiling. "And I also won't let Takuya and JP know I found you sleeping on watch."

"Have I ever mentioned how incredibly merciful you are?" Kouji said, smirking.

"Cyber Nail!" Suddenly, a pair of glinting claws slashed out of the darkness, headed straight for the twins. They quickly ducked before the claws cut them to ribbons.

Raising their heads, the twins watched Cyberdramon step out from between the trees, growling at them in a feral manner. He was large and covered in dark armor with large claws and a dangerous demeanor that added to his terrifying appearance.

"Here we go again!" Kouji grabbed his D-Tector from his pocket, watching as Kouichi did the same. "But first…"

"WAKE UP!" Kouji and Kouichi yelled at the exact same time, causing everyone to jump awake.

"What the hell…" Takuya's angry outburst was cut off by Cyberdramon's loud growl.

Everyone stared at the large Digimon, and then JP said, "Crap."

"Yay, it's our first battle in the Digital World!" Dai exclaimed happily, holding up his camera and snapping a quick picture. Cyberdramon blinked several times due to the flash, then glared angrily at Dai, baring his teeth.

"Dai, I don't think it was a very good idea to tick him off before the fight," Hotaru muttered, D-Tector in hand.

"Alright, let's kick some weird big dark Digimon thingy ass!" Kira exclaimed, activating her D-Tector and evolving into Ranamon.

"You know Takuya, this guy might be Beast Spirit worthy," Kouji said, smiling.

"You got a point there, Kouji," Takuya nodded, agreeing. "Everybody ready?"

The others nodded and soon there were five beast Digimon standing in the forest. "Well, I guess I should, too," Shino said, shrugged. He then Beast Spirit evolved himself.

Dai and Hotaru stared in awe at their friends. "That's so awesome! I want my Beast Spirit!" Dai squealed excitedly.

Ranamon stared at the others as well, her mouth hanging open in shock. "That is just no freaking fair," she muttered, turning around and heading toward Dai. "We'll just let you guys handle this, then."

"Sorry, Kira," BurningGreymon said sheepishly.

"Desolation Claw!" Suddenly several claw marks of glowing energy emanated from Cyberdramon's claw swipes, heading for BurningGreymon.

"Oh jeez!" he cried, clumsily dodged Cyberdramon's attack.

"Behold the power of the mighty Beast Spirit," Ranamon said sarcastically.

BurningGreymon regained his composure, glaring at Cyberdramon murderously. "Guys, I think it's time we finished this guy off," he growled.

"Right!" MetalKabuterimon agreed, holding up his arms and releasing a burst of energy from them.

Before the blasts hit Cyberdramon, he leaped into the air, causing the blasts to hit a tree and make it explode. MetalKabuterimon looked up as Cyberdramon plummeted toward the ground, headed straight for him. "Oh crap!" he cried.

Before Cyberdramon made impact, though, Zephyrmon got in from of MetalKabuterimon. "Hurricane Gale!" she cried, unleashing a powerful wind attack which blew Cyberdramon backward.

Petaldramon slapped Cyberdramon high in the air with his tail, saying, "Alright guys, he's an easy target now!"

"Don't need to tell me twice!" BurningGreymon exclaimed, aiming his arm guns (?) at Cyberdramon. "Pyro Barrage!"

"Lupine Laser!" KendoGarurumon opened his mouth, shooting a beat of light energy from it. (Darn, no Star Wars yet.)

"Hurricane Gale!" Zephyrmon cried, unleashing her wind attack yet again.

"Ebony Blast!" JagerLowemon released a burst of dark energy from his pistons (apparently), aiming for Cyberdramon.

"Avalanche Axes!" Korikakumon cried, throwing his ice-tipped axes into the air.

"Leaf Cyclone!" Petaldramon unleashed cyclones of wind and leaves from his…his…nose. (BUA HA HA HA HA HA HA!) "Thanks, Madjack," he muttered sarcastically.

"And last but not least," MetalKabuterimon began, gathering energy in his cannon, "Electron Cannon!" He unleashed a powerful burst of electrical energy which combined with the other attacks, forming into one gigantic attack which hit Cyberdramon and exploded in the sky, causing the forest to momentarily light up.

"Oh," Ranamon began.

"My," Hotaru continued.

"Great golly gosh," Dai finished.

Cyberdramon, who was surprisingly still alive after that, fell to the ground, landing in front of the others. Before he could get up, however, BurningGreymon stepped onto him, pinning him to the ground. "I really don't think you want to do that, buddy," he said.

Cyberdramon growled, glaring furiously at the group of Digimon huddled around him. "Okay, I think that we have a couple of questions to ask," KendoGarurumon said, staring coldly at Cyberdramon. "For starters, why did you attack us?"

"Is it that hard to figure out," Cyberdramon said. "I just wanted a good fight, and you were able to supply me with one."

"Okay, question two," MetalKabuterimon said. "How did you find us?"

"I was walking in the woods when I spotted you through the trees," Cyberdramon replied. "Now let me go!"

"Just as soon as you give us answers that aren't total bullshit," BurningGreymon said threateningly, stamping harder on Cyberdramon. "Now tell us the truth. Were you sent here by Ilsemon?"

Cyberdramon glared at the group for a moment, then muttered, "Maybe."

"That's a yes or no question," KendoGarurumon growled.

Cyberdramon growled in return. After a few tense moments, he finally said, "Yes, I was sent here by Ilsemon. So what will you do now, kill me?"

"Considering it," Zephyrmon threatened.

"Wait," Korikakumon said before anyone could move in on Cyberdramon. "Ilsemon can force people into servitude, right? What if this guy's just a pawn in her plan? I don't want to destroy an innocent Digimon."

Everyone paused, pondering what Korikakumon had said. BurningGreymon sighed, saying, "He's right. We can't kill him just like that."

"But we can't let him go free, either," MetalKabuterimon pointed out.

"Even if he goes back to Ilsemon, there's no more harm he can cause. It's obvious that she already knows we're in the Digital World now," KendoGarurumon said.

"We're probably already playing right into her hands," Petaldramon added quietly.

After a moment BurningGreymon exclaimed, "Oh, screw it! We can take the risk!" He then lifted his foot, freeing Cyberdramon. Cyberdramon got up slowly, stared at the Digimon surrounding him, then ran for the trees and was gone.

Everyone reverted to their human forms after a second, still staring at the trees. "Okay, either that guy has high pain tolerance or our attacks aren't what they used to be," JP said.

"They've been working for us so far, so I'm gonna go ahead and say it's him," Takuya said.

"So that's why we need a watch," Dai muttered thoughtfully.

Suddenly Witchmon, Bokomon, and Neemon burst through the trees, relaxing when they saw only the gang in the clearing. "We saw an explosion, and we thought you were in trouble," Bokomon explained hastily, glancing around at the trees.

"You just missed it, Book Guy," Kira said, still staring at the others in amazement. "These guys can seriously kick ass with their Beast Spirits."

"Beast Spirits!" Bokomon cried. "What in the world did we miss?"

"We'll get to that later!" Witchmon said, impatiently stamping her foot. "Right now I have to tell them about the message!"

"Message from who?" Kouichi asked curiously.

"Masumon!" Witchmon said excitedly.

"I thought Ilsemon captured her," Takuya said, crossing his arms.

"I thought I already explained this," Witchmon grumbled. "Masumon can enter the dreams of individuals she has seen before. When I was asleep, she came to me in my dream and told me to take you guys to the Resistance encampment in the Dark Area!"

"Hey, wait a second! What if Masumon gave you an important message in a dream but you didn't remember it when you woke up?" JP asked.

"Well, I guess you'd be SOL," Witchmon said, shrugging.

"Let me ask a relevant question," Kouji said, glancing at JP. "What is the Resistance?"

"You can't tell from the name?" Witchmon asked sarcastically. "It's the army of Digimon rallied against Ilsemon. They have their camp stationed in the Dark Area, and if we're going to take down Ilsemon, joining the Resistance is our best bet."

"Can you lead us there?" Kouichi asked. "I doubt any regular Digimon would know where it is."

"I'm part of the Resistance," Witchmon replied. "I'll be able to get you there, and then we can go beat up on Ilsemon and get Masumon back!"

"Sounds good to me!" Takuya said, looking determined. "Let's head out before someone else comes after us."

"Hold on for one second, young man!" Bokomon exclaimed suddenly. "You weren't thinking about leaving without Neemon and I, were you?"

"Are you sure you want to leave Patamon behind?" Zoe asked.

"You are his Papamon, after all," JP said, smirking.

"Yes, leaving Patamon behind will be hard," Bokomon said sadly, "but I will not miss out on your further adventures! Besides, I can write a sequel to my book."

"Oh my god, you actually wrote a book about us!" Takuya exclaimed happily.

"Can we see it?" Zoe asked enthusiastically.

"Of course!" Bokomon replied. "It's back at my house!"

Takuya, Zoe, JP, and Tommy followed directly after Bokomon and Neemon as they headed back to his home.

The others stood still for a moment, then sighed. "I guess we're heading out tomorrow," Kouji said sarcastically.

"The illustrations are probably stick figures," Kouichi muttered.

"They are," Witchmon replied.

Kouichi sighed as Kira said, "Well, let's go see Book Guy's book, I guess."

So the rest of the group followed the others toward Bokomon's house, not knowing how much things were about to change.

--

Cyberdramon sprinted through the forest, trying to get as far away from the humans as possible. He didn't want to admit it, but they were the first opponents who had even come close to killing him, and that made him afraid.

_-Cyberdramon.-_ Cyberdramon stopped abruptly, recognizing Ilsemon's voice echoing in his mind.

"Ilsemon!" he cried out loud, not caring if he sounded like he was yelling at himself. "You said I'd never be beat if I listened to you! You said that these humans would be easy to defeat, that they may have warrior spirits, but that their human weakness would show through!"

_-Yes, I did say that,-_ Ilsemon replied calmly. _–Your ability to withstand physical attacks has been quite useful to me, but now your usefulness has come to an end.-_

Cyberdramon slowly realized what Ilsemon was implying. "You used me."

Suddenly a blast of pain shot through Cyberdramon's head. "ARGH!" he howled in agony, sinking to the ground and twitching convulsively as the headache continued.

"Stop, please!" he cried.

Ilsemon's voice echoed in his head as she said, _-I'm sorry, but if I end it now, you'll switch sides on me, and I can't have that, can I? I'll just have to keep this up until you finally snap, and let me tell you, I find great pleasure in the process.-_

Cyberdramon clutched his head with his claws, curling into a ball and suffering in silence.

--

_madjack89:_ There you have it! The gang is about to embark on a perilous journey to the Dark Area, but what life-changing experiences await them on the way?

_Dai:_ Cake!

_madjack89:_ Yes Dai, here is the chocolate cake I promised. _hands cake_ And while I'm at it, here's all the other sugar filled sweets everyone has decided to give you. _hands large pile of sweets_

_Dai:_ …This is the best day of my young life. _begins to gorge_

_Hotaru:_ …Uh, Madjack, are you sure about this?

_JP:_ There's no way Dai will not go sugar crazed this time.

_Tommy:_ I'm kinda scared.

_madjack89:_ Hopefully, Dai doesn't go too crazy.

_Takuya:_ That pile of sweets is as big as him!

_Kouji:_ What have you done?

_madjack89:_ Oh well, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it! See ya in the next chapter! And happy Friday the Thirteenth and Valentine's Day!


	4. Ch 4: Better Left Unsaid

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing- Chapter 4: Better Left Unsaid**

_madjack89:_ Um, hey there, guys. Me and the survivors of Dai's sugar induced onslaught are reporting to you today from inside a closet.

_Kouji:_ The survivors and I.

_Kira:_ Shut up, pretty boy! We're all gonna die anyway, so the least you can do is be nice in your last few moments.

_madjack89:_ With me are Kouji, Kira, Kouichi, Tommy, and JP. I have absolutely no clue what happened to the others, but we think they were caught by Dai in his craziness.

_JP:_ I still can't believe he lifted a wide screen TV and chucked it at you when you said there was no more chocolate.

_Tommy:_ What do you think happened to the others?

_madjack89:_ Well, there hasn't been any noise for a while, so Kouji should go check and see what's going on.

_Kouji:_ No way! I'm not going out there with that little sugar crazed maniac!

_madjack89:_ You can bring Kouichi with you.

_Kouichi:_ Why me?!

_Kira:_ You're his twin. If you die, you die together.

_Kouichi:_ Have you ever even seen the last three episodes of our season?

_Kira:_ Of course! You guys beat the D-Reaper and then your Digimon partners had to go back to…wait, that's Tamers, isn't it?

_Kouichi: sigh_

_Kouji:_ I vote that JP goes. He's tough.

_JP:_ Kira's way tougher than me! Why can't she go?

_Kira:_ You never send the women and children out into danger, JP!

_JP:_ So that rules out Tommy…

_Tommy:_ You were gonna make me go out there?!

_madjack89:_ I guess I'll have to go. I created this monster, and now I must stop him.

_Kira:_ You're a true hero, Madjack.

_madjack89:_ Thank you, Kira. Now Kouji, when I say go, open the door, and I'll run out, and then you shut the door again, okay?

_Kouji:_ Okay. _gets up to open door_

_madjack89:_ One…two…three…go!

_Kouji: opens door _

_madjack89: shoves Kouji out door quickly and closes it behind him_

_Kouichi:_ Kouji!

_Kira:_ Ha ha ha, that was awesome, Madjack!

_Kouji:_ _from outside_ Madjack, I am gonna kill you!

_madjack89:_ Oh, calm down, Kouji. It's not like Dai's gonna horribly mangle you or anything bad like that.

_Kouichi:_ Madjack…

_madjack89:_ Okay, while these guys yell at me, I shall ignore them and answer reviews!

_Kayland Elric:_ We almost had one, but Kouji's Beast Spirit doesn't really go with Star Wars that much (darn). I wonder if Bokomon even knows what Star Wars is (lol)! Thanks for reviewing!

_GoldenDragon326:_ We didn't just back away from Dai, we had to SPRINT for this closet (lol)! Thanks for reviewing!

_Aldamonburst:_ Calmaramon scares me, too! And I have to write about her! Wahh! Well, I'll live, I guess! So BurningGreymon's weapons have names, huh? Thanks for the tip! And thanks for giving me a list of attacks for Neemon! I may use a couple! Thanks for reviewing!

_LadyWarGreymon:_ Yay for KouichixZoe! And actually I was planning on putting Fusion Evolutions in the story, so any help you can give would be greatly appreciated (I'll give GreyDramon credit too)! Thanks for being a fan and reviewing the fanfic (but I may have to lock the sweets up away from Dai)!

_JewelledTears:_ Yeah, I said happy Friday the Thirteenth (lol)! And oh wow, now that you mention it, Ilsemon is like Jane, isn't she? Darn, I hated Jane! Oh wells, though! Thank you for reviewing and giving us sugar-free treats!

_garnettfox:_ It's all good! And actually, I think I could possibly use some of your Digimon characters later in the story, if you want me too! Just send me their profiles sometime, and I'll see what I can do (and don't worry, I'll give you credit for them)! Thanks for the review!

_hazeleyedharmony:_ Somehow I don't think the Pepto will help much…

intro- Yeah, that's why it's not gonna be in the story!

part 2- I tend to get distracted, too. Either that or I space out!

part 4- Yeah, poor widdle Kouji. And poor Shino, having to attack out his nose (lol)!

part 5- Pretty much.

Oh my god, I loved Doug, too! That show rocked! Woohoo! Yeah, I think I'm getting a little too hyper from all this talk of Doug! Okay, thanks for reviewing!

_Dawn of Glory:_ If you like that dark mood, just wait till later in the story (mua ha ha)…hee! Alright, thank you very much for the review!

_Kouji:_ _still outside_ Madjack, let me back in! I think I hear footsteps!

_JP:_ Just play dead and maybe he'll leave you alone!

_Kouichi:_ Madjack, c'mon! Let him back in!

_Tommy:_ Now I hear footsteps!

_Kira:_ Everyone be quiet!

_Takuya: from outside_ Oh, thank god I finally found one of you guys!

_Kouji: from outside_ Takuya?

_Kira:_ Chief's right, Madjack! Let them in!

_Kouichi: sigh_

_madjack89:_ Okay, while we unravel the mystery of where everyone else has gone to, enjoy chapter 4 of F2R, which ironically has to do with Dai!

--

"Bokomon, was my name circle circle square, or circle triangle circle?" Takuya asked, studying Bokomon's book intently while walking down the Trailmon tracks.

"I already told you I'd read some to you tonight!" Bokomon snapped, beginning to get annoyed by Takuya's pestering. "And it's circle circle square!"

"Fine then," Takuya mumbled, handing the book to Kira so she could take another turn at deciphering it.

The first thing that everyone had noticed when they had opened Bokomon's book was that it was written in the same strange symbol language as Bokomon's other book because it was the only way Bokomon had learned to write. At first the gang was disappointed, but now they had created a new challenge to see who could translate it correctly before Bokomon read it to them that night.

"Okay, I think this says either, _We fell in a giant hole_ or _Kouji was dancing with a pole_," Kira said, carefully studying the book.

"Could be either," JP said, shrugging.

"Wait, Kouji was pole dancing?" Kira smirked, turning to look at Kouji.

"No," Kouji said flatly, glaring at JP and Kira. "So Witchmon," he added, turning his attention to the Digimon beside him. "Are you sure these tracks will lead us straight to the Dark Area?"

"Yup," Witchmon replied.

"And we couldn't get a Trailmon because…?" JP asked skeptically.

"Hey, it took me long enough to convince Worm to bring you guys here," Witchmon replied, huffing. "It's hard getting Trailmon transport these days, because they're all trying to hide from Ilsemon. A few Trailmon have already been forced into her servitude, like Mole."

"Mole!" Zoe exclaimed in disbelief. "But he wouldn't even carry us around because he said he was too ticklish!"

"That's what Ilsemon will do to you," Witchmon said, eyes narrowing.

"Poor Mole," Tommy muttered, looking sad.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again; Ilsemon is a bitch," Takuya said angrily.

"Oh, come on guys!" Dai suddenly exclaimed, skipping up next to Takuya and Kira. "We can handle Ilsemon, and then everything will be all better; you'll see!"

Everyone stared at Dai as he skipped further ahead of everyone else. When it seemed like he was out of hearing range, Bokomon asked, "How is that boy always so chipper?"

"What's a chipper?" Neemon asked Bokomon curiously.

While Bokomon glared at Neemon, Takuya replied, "You know, we really don't know much about Dai. He always seems to be in such a great mood."

"There has to be something more going on with him," Kouji said, staring at Dai thoughtfully. "How can you just shrug off losing your parents?"

Hotaru suddenly stopped, eyes widening. "You guys know about my aunt and uncle?" he asked.

"Well, yeah, Dai told us," JP explained. "Is that a bad thing?"

Hotaru stared at Dai for a moment, looking thoughtful. Then he shook his head and said, "No, I was just surprised that you knew."

Before anyone could question Hotaru further, he ran ahead of the others in order to catch up with Dai. Everyone stared at the pair quizzically for a few moments. Finally Takuya said, "Guys, I think we need to get to the bottom of these two."

"Chief, what's your opinion? Does this say, _Then Takuya and Zoe fell into a ditch_ or _Crusadermon is such a bitch_?" Kira asked Kouichi, pointing out a particular part of Bokomon's book.

"Once again, it could be either," Kouichi said, sighing. "But I'll put my money on _Crusadermon is such a bitch_."

--

As the sun began to sink, the gang started searching for a place to camp for the night. Shino was standing at the top of a hill when he noticed a forest not too far in the distance. "Hey guys, could we camp there?" he asked, pointing it out to the others.

Takuya and JP stared at it for a few moments before exclaiming in unison, "It's the TV Forest!"

"Oh yeah, I guess we do pass by there going this way," Witchmon said thoughtfully.

"Isn't that where all the weird TV screens show up on the trees and show you stuff from the human world?" Kira asked.

"Yup," Zoe replied. "Plus, there's food there!"

"And Crispin Freeman is there!" Tommy added.

"He's here too, Tommy," Kouichi said, shaking his head in exasperation. "But aside from that, it sounds like a good place to camp."

"Well then, let's get going!" Dai quickly rushed down the hill, stumbling clumsily over small ruts in the earth.

"Dai, be careful!" Hotaru rolled his eyes, following his cousin down the hill.

"Alright guys," Takuya said as he watched his two friends. "Tonight, we're gonna find out what the hell is up with those two!"

--

Impmon lay in the higher branches of one of the trees in the forest. He watched as the sun slowly disappeared over the horizon, covering the Digital World in darkness. Sweet, sweet darkness.

"In darkness lies power," Impmon muttered to himself, staring at one of his gloved hands. "So why ain't I gettin' any stronger?"

He closed his eyes, replaying Ilsemon's instructions to him in his head. _I need you to keep an eye on the legendary warrior children for me, Impmon. Make sure they don't stray from the path we've laid for them._

He chuckled bitterly. "Yeah, one problem wit that. I can't even find the lil brats. How pathetic can one Digimon be?"

"Woohoo!" Impmon jumped, nearly falling from his branch. When he regained his balance, he looked down and saw just what he was looking for; the warrior brats, along with Witchmon and a couple other Digimon Impmon didn't recognize.

Impmon's eyes narrowed when he noticed who had made the noise that startled him. The little punk warrior of earth, Daiki or whatever his name was.

Impmon smiled wickedly, watching the children pass right under him, not knowing that he would be watching their every move that night.

--

_Later, in the forest…_

"Dang it, dang it, dang it!" Takuya exclaimed angrily, rubbing two sticks together furiously over a pile of twigs.

"C'mon, warrior of fire, show that little campfire who's boss," Kouji said sarcastically, staring at Takuya's futile attempts.

"You know, you could be helping me," Takuya grumbled, setting the sticks down for a moment. "And for that matter, why can't I just Spirit Evolve and do this again?"

"Because it'll attract too much attention," JP replied. "Now make fire!"

"Attract attention, yeah right," Takuya muttered, rolling his eyes and rubbing the sticks together again.

Takuya, Kouji, JP, and Zoe were all setting up their camping spot for the night while everyone else went to get water, food, and more sticks for the fire.

Zoe glanced right and left, then asked quietly, "So, how are we gonna go about getting the whole story from Dai and Hotaru?"

The three boys considered the question for a moment. Then Kouji said, "We'll have to do it gradually. We don't want to make them upset if it's too painful to recount."

"I'm more curious about Hotaru than Dai," JP added. "He never says anything about himself, if you can get him to say anything at all."

"He's opening up," Zoe said, defending Hotaru.

"Well, we've all learned recently that it's better to get things off your chest than keep them to yourself," Takuya said solemnly, glancing at Kouji.

Kouji nodded, adding quietly, "I know it's helped me, telling you guys about Seiko…"

The other three gave Kouji reassuring smiles, and then Takuya said, "Well, Bokomon is gonna read some of his book to us, right? We could have him read a part about one of us, then we start a conversation about our pasts, and maybe that'll soften them up!"

"It might work," Zoe said, pondering. Then she realized something and added, "But we can't get into the whole Kouichi/Duskmon thing, okay? I don't think Kouichi's ready for the others to know about that yet."

"That's fine," Takuya said, actually relieved that they wouldn't have to get into that subject tonight. "But tell everyone else to prepare their sob stories because tonight, we're going into pity mode!"

--

Later, after Takuya had successfully started a fire and everyone had eaten, the gang was sitting around their clearing, anxiously awaiting Bokomon's reading of his story.

"C'mon Bokomon, hurry up!" JP complained, itching with anticipation. His excitement was not only for the book, but for the uncovering of the mysteries surrounding Dai and Hotaru.

"Alright! Hold your horses, JP!" Bokomon replied, opening up his book. "Shall I begin at the very beginning, or is there a specific part you wish to skip to?"

_Okay, here's where the plan begins_, Takuya thought. _We just pick a section about one of us, and then we'll have Dai and Hotaru right where we want them!_

Kira raised her hand dramatically as the others stared at her intently, waiting for the plan to fall into place. "Bokomon," she began, pausing for effect. "I would like you to skip to the chapter about…the Hamburger Village!"

"What?!" Takuya exclaimed, completely shocked.

"Kira!" Zoe hissed under her breath. "We're supposed to be sticking to a plan here!"

"I know," Kira whispered back. "I just wanted to know about this place before we started that. Taki and pretty boy stopped you guys from telling us too much, and I want to know why!"

"Those were dark times for our taste buds," Bokomon muttered, shivering at the memory. "But first, I think that we should skip to a more profound section, just to get us in the mood."

Takuya and Kouji silently thanked Bokomon, both for not reading that part and for getting them on track.

Bokomon flipped a few pages in his book, opening it somewhere around the middle. "This part has to do a bit with each of your personal struggles," Bokomon explained, clearing his throat. "'Not everything was sunshine and daisies with these children, though. They faced hardships that many would not be able to believe, even in the human world.'"

"You're telling me," JP muttered, winking at Takuya to initiate their plan.

"Seriously," Takuya continued, getting the message. "It's like part of the job description for being a legendary warrior is have some sort of dark past."

Everyone but Dai and Hotaru sighed heavily, adding effect to Takuya's statement. "Aw…" Dai muttered sympathetically. Hotaru said nothing, looking at the others curiously.

"Yeah," Takuya continued, grinning on the inside, "it's just the way things work for us, I guess. I mean, none of us even had any friends before we met each other."

"Not even you, Takuya?" Dai asked, genuinely curious now.

"Nope," Takuya replied. "I may seem like a really outgoing person, but the truth is I can be just as shy as everyone else."

"Shy?" Zoe asked bitterly, trying to play up the drama. "I tried to make friends, but everyone refused to have anything to do with me, just because I'm different."

"That's better than thinking you have friends, but then realizing how superficial they all are," JP continued, picking up swiftly where Zoe had left off. "But I guess that's better than family problems."

"You got that right," Kira said. "Family problems suck. My mom's dead and my dad's a boozer; pretty boy's dad is an unreasonable ass; and don't even get me started on Chief!"

_Our dad isn't that bad_, Kouji and Kouichi thought at the same time (probably using freaky telekinetic twin powers! ;) ).

After Kira's last statement, everyone was silent. The others glanced eagerly at each other, noticing Dai's thoughtful look. Hotaru had closed his eyes and seemed to be thinking hard about something as well.

"So, Dai," JP began slowly. "What's your deal, anyway?"

Everyone held their breath as Dai inhaled deeply, letting his breath out again through his nose in an almost annoyed manner. He stared at every one of his friends and smirked, saying, "You know guys, that was pretty well thought out. Excellent strategy, but unfortunately, no cigar."

There was a pause, and not a noise could be heard in the clearing. Then JP said, "Um, what?"

"I get it, okay?" Dai said, still smirking. "You're curious about me. I don't give much away about myself, blah blah blah. But I have to say, you did have me going for a second there. I thought that you guys were being serious!"

"Okay," Takuya said, stunned by Dai's perceptiveness. "Well, just because there was a plan behind it doesn't mean we weren't serious about what we were saying."

"We just want to help, Dai," Zoe added gently. "If there's anything going on, we'll be there for you. You can trust us."

"And we're insanely curious," JP said. Zoe glared at him, mad that he had ruined her statement.

Dai's smirk faded slightly, turning into a purely annoyed look. "You guys don't even understand," he said quietly, sounding more serious than he had ever sounded before. "My past is…better left unsaid."

"Remember when I said I was curious? Now I'm really curious," JP said, staring pleadingly at Dai.

"I'm sorry, but I won't tell you anything more than what I've already said," Dai said stubbornly, crossing his arms. He then glanced quickly at Hotaru, who could only stare back at his cousin in anguish.

_They have to know_, Hotaru thought, watching as the others continued to pester Dai. _We can trust them._

"Please?" Tommy asked.

_You can't keep this from them. What if they find out? They'll feel betrayed because we didn't tell them._

"C'mon, Dai," Kira said.

_This is too big a secret to keep from them!_

"It can't be worse than anything any of us have gone through," Kouji said.

"That's it!" Hotaru cried, standing up quickly. "He's dying, okay? He has a terminal heart disease and the doctors didn't even think he would make to his seventh birthday! Seventh! He is literally dying every day, and just to add to that, he holds himself responsible for the accident that took his parents' lives!"

Hotaru snapped his head around to face his cousin. "I'm sorry, Dai," he said quietly. "But I don't regret this. They had to know."

Everyone was quiet for a few moments, no one completely sure what to say. Finally Tommy broke the silence, asking, "You're dying, Dai?"

Dai stared at the ground, saying nothing. Then he stood up slowly and lifted his eyes, glaring angrily at Hotaru. "You lied," he stated quietly.

"I told the truth, Dai," Hotaru retorted.

"Shut up!" Dai yelled furiously, letting his anger out. "I don't want to hear another word from you, you back-stabbing liar! We had a deal! You said that you wouldn't tell them! You promised!

"Well, you know what," Dai continued, turning to the others. "Hotaru's been keeping things from you, too! You want to know what he did when he was younger? He was a Yankee, off beating people up in the streets! And once he went too far and almost killed someone!"

Dai whipped his head around and glared once more at his cousin, then said, "Now we're even."

He then turned and dashed through the trees, quickly getting lost inside the tangle of branches.

--

_madjack89:_ Well, wasn't that a fun chapter!

_Kouji:_ Not really.

_madjack89:_ Shut up, Kouji. Anyway, the others survived Dai's onslaught, too. It turns out he only went insane for about three more minutes before he passed out on the sofa!

_Hotaru:_ And I've been looking for you guys for an hour.

_madjack89:_ Yeah, Taki, Zoe, and Shino went and hid in different spots, apparently.

_Takuya:_ We're never giving Dai sugar ever again.

_Dai:_ But I like sugar!

_madjack89:_ Will sugar free do?

_Dai:_ I guess…

_madjack89:_ Good, because I have sugar free cookies from JewelledTears! And they're shaped like little hearts!

_Dai:_ …May I please partake in the consumption of said cookies?

_madjack89:_ Sure!

_Dai:_ Yay! _eats cookies_

_Shino:_ Dai, you really are a piece of work.

_madjack89:_ Oh, and Taki, Kira, Kouichi, and Zoe get special couple cookies!

_Takuya:_ T…K.

_Kira:_ Why is it that TK's name keeps popping up?

_TK:_ What?

_JP:_ Wait, what about me and Tomoyo?

_madjack89:_ Deal with it, JP!

_TK:_ What kind of fanfiction is this?

_Kouichi:_ I'll show you the way out.

_madjack89:_ Bye, everyone! And remember, sugar free is good!

(Happy Ash Wednesday to all my Catholic homies out there, too!)


	5. Ch 5: An Escape

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing- Chapter 5: An Escape**

_madjack89:_ Howdy, guys! Prepare yourselves for this new chapter, which will reveal Dai and Hotaru's pasts! Woot!

_Hotaru:_ Joy and rapture.

_Dai:_ Yeah.

_JP:_ I think that's one of the first times Dai didn't immediately say yay after you announced the new chapter.

_Dai:_ I'm not excited about this chapter.

_Takuya:_ Seriously Dai, your calmness is beginning to creep me out.

_Dai:_ Sorry, let me try again. Ahem…yay.

_madjack89:_ I can't believe it. Dai is actually harshing the mellow!

_Kira:_ What happened to the Dai we know and love!

_Kouji:_ I'm actually beginning to take him seriously.

_madjack89:_ This is just too creepy! I'm just gonna start answering reviews!

_Kayland Elric:_ Yeah, it was either Kouji or Kouichi, and I'm not shoving poor old Chief out there to be sacrificed (but Kouji's fine lol)! And he pretty much was pole dancing (episode 2 lol). Oh, they're called Yakuza? I was actually wondering what that word meant! Thanks for telling me! And I would have had chapter 4 up that Monday, but stupid fanfiction decided to crash! Grrr! Oh well, it's working now! Thanks for reviewing!

_Aldamonburst:_ Don't worry, Dai's not dying anytime soon! Whether it happens later is yet to be determined (mua ha ha…). Hee, I may yet turn Kouji into Strabimon, just cause he's a cute little Digimon! Okay, thanks for reviewing!

_GoldenDragon326:_ Hooray freaky telekinetic twin powers! Woot (lol)! Thanks for the review!

_LadyWarGreymon:_ Wow, this is really thorough! These ideas are definitely better than anything I could have come up with! Thanks! And I'm definitely giving you and GreyDramon oodles of credit for them! Thanks again, and hope you keep enjoying the fic! And tacos rock!

_garnettfox:_ Just send me what you feel like sending and I'll see what I can use! And you shall receive full credit, so once again, no worries! Thanks for reviewing!

_agoodcupoftea:_ I'm glad my chapters have amused you! And your right, a little touch of tragedy does make things more interesting. Okay, thanks!

_hazeleyedharmony:_ Aw, sorry your sick!

intro: No kidding.

part one: Actually, I meant the place where the Rose Morning Star and stuff was. (Sorry that that's a little confusing!)

part two: CRISPIN FREEMAN! (Yay!)

the rest: Aw, you guys care enough about Dai that you wouldn't want him to be killed off! That's awesome! Don't worry, he's not dying NOW…okay, thanks for reviewing and hope you feel better soon! (Woot, a Catholic homie, yo!)

_Dawn of Glory:_ Yeah, depressing, but necessary. Thanks!

_JewelledTears:_ You know, I think I've only made Adventure 02 references in the story as of yet! I should be more diverse! But yeah, JP and Tomoyo understand, and they promise not to sue. (_Tomoyo:_ I was all ready to sue, too!) Yeah, I can't think of what disease to give Dai, so you can use your imagination a little. And as for Taru-kun, he's just the special exception that didn't go emo or crazy (read on for details). FREAKY TELEKINETIC TWIN POWERS! Okay, thanks for reviewing! (I can't answer any plot questions because I'm not ruining my plot. You'll just have to wait!)

_Megmo8214:_ Thanks! And man, everybody loves Crispin Freeman, don't they? But he deserves it, so it's all good!

_fg1fg:_ Wow, you'd actually willing give me something filled with sugar? No one else would be crazy enough to ever do that (lol)! But thank you anyway! And thanks for reviewing!

_madjack89:_ Okay, let's get this chapter rolling!

_Dai:_ Yup.

_madjack89:_ I need a substitute Dai. Kouichi, be Dai for me!

_Kouichi:_ Why me?

_madjack89:_ Because it'll be funny!

_Kouichi:_ Fine. Um…yay, let's start the chapter! I love cookies! Death Note rocks! Uh…what else is he into?

_Dai:_ You guys don't take me seriously at all, do you?

_Everyone:_ Heck no!

_Dai: sigh_

_madjack89:_ Alright, let's start the chapter! Yay!

--

Impmon was stunned momentarily, completely shocked by what he had just heard. _The kid…is dyin'?_ he thought, clutching a tree branch tighter for support.

It was so completely unfair. He was so young, too young to go down like that.

Suddenly a rustling of bushes and leaves caught Impmon's attention. He glanced down into the clearing just in time to see Dai disappear through the trees.

"No, kid!" Impmon hissed between his teeth. He suddenly realized that Ilsemon had anticipated a moment like this, when this kid's secret would be exposed, when he would leave his friends rather than face his past. She had wanted to take him out, get the others to seek vengeance, mess with their minds as she loved to do.

And because of Impmon, she knew exactly when the right time to strike was. She had just seen what had occurred through his mind, and right now was probably planning an attack.

Before Impmon had time to think it over, he leaped lightly through the trees, heading in the same direction that Dai had gone. In the back of his mind, he knew it would be treason to help the kid. Almost suicide.

"I don't care," he muttered, pushing those thoughts out of his mind. "That kid ain't gonna die like that! I won't let 'im!"

--

At first, no one said anything. All they could do was stare at each other, shock and confusion mingled in their expressions. They all glanced anxiously at Hotaru, who looked like he was about to have some sort of breakdown.

"Well, this is quite a development," Witchmon suddenly said, chuckling anxiously.

Hotaru jumped as if he were just remembering that he wasn't alone in the clearing. He turned slowly, trying to keep from making eye contact with anyone. There was another moment of silence until Hotaru finally said, "I'm so sorry."

"Hey, don't sweat it, buddy," Takuya said cheerily, smiling.

"What you did in the past doesn't reflect who you are now," Kouichi added quietly, causing both Zoe and Kouji to glance anxiously at him.

Hotaru closed his eyes for a moment, seemingly contemplating something. The others held their breath as he slowly opened his eyes again. "Okay," he said quietly, taking a seat near the middle of the clearing. "I'm ready. I'll tell you guys about Dai's past…and my own."

"You really don't have to if you're not up to it," Kouji began.

Hotaru shook his head. "Like I said, I'd feel better if I told you guys everything. I don't want any more secrets."

"Alright then," JP said. "Go ahead, Hotaru."

Hotaru took a deep breath, staring at each of his friends in turn, even at the three Digimon seated in the clearing. He smiled slightly, then began his account.

"You see, what Dai told you about his parents barely scratches the surface of what's happened to us. But that is the event that set everything off. Dai, he…he was in the accident that took his parents lives. He was the only survivor."

"Called it," Takuya muttered, collecting a chocolate bar from a sullen-looking JP.

"That's when my parents decided to take him in," Hotaru continued, ignoring the chocolate exchange. "I was six at the time, and Dai was just five. But he still acted like his regular old self." Hotaru pausing, smirking at his own memory. "But I always took Dai for granted. In fact, I downright hated him until a couple years ago."

"How did you manage to hate Dai?" Zoe asked, stunned. "Not even Kouji hates him."

"Well, you see," Hotaru said, hesitating slightly before continuing. "I was…picked on as a kid, but Dai always had so many friends. I just…hated how he could be so popular with everyone, while I couldn't.

"Pretty soon, I found a way to get back at everyone that had made fun of me; I became a Yankee. And it was the stupidest mistake I ever made." Hotaru laughed bitterly, adding, "I even gained some popularity for being able to beat people up. I remember they used to call me the Firefly because of my name."

"Wait," Kira said suddenly, stopping Hotaru's explanation. "You were…he's…you were the Firefly?"

"Um, yeah," Hotaru said, slightly confused.

"Oh my god," Kira muttered, eyes lighting up. "I freaking worship you!" Kira suddenly hopped up, went over in front of Hotaru, and crouched down, staring at him intently. After a moment, she exclaimed, "Yup, it's definitely you!" before throwing her arms around him in a hug.

The others stared open-mouthed at the scene before them, Takuya's expression tinged with jealousy. "What the hell are you talking about, Kira?" Takuya asked.

Kira turned, letting go of a flustered-looking Hotaru. "I'm talking about one of the best fighters around! Hotaru, or should I say, Firefly was so great, he could probably even kick the crap out of Marcus Damon!"

-

_Meanwhile, at DATS headquarters…_

"Hey!" Marcus exclaimed suddenly, jumping up from his chair. "I just got a feeling that someone from another Digimon season is calling me out!"

"Let's get em, boss!" Agumon said, raising his arms determinedly. "You don't need goggles to be a good main character, just a stupidity complex!"

"God knows he has that," Thomas muttered, rolling his eyes.

-

_Back in the forest…_

"Ha, I knew you were a Yankee," Kouji said, smirking at Kira.

"I WAS a Yankee, but I'm not now," Kira replied, glaring sullenly at Kouji. "Besides, if I started street fighting again, Taki would probably get beat senseless every day just cause he's my boyfriend!"

Takuya grew pale as Hotaru said, "I'm not a Yankee anymore, either. Like I said, it was a stupid mistake, and it almost cost Dai his life."

"You almost killed Dai?" Tommy asked, shocked.

"No," Hotaru said quickly. "It was a boy from my class at school. I don't remember his name, I just know that he would always try to trip me every day in the hallway, so I decided to teach him a lesson. Once I started, I just…couldn't stop. Something in me just wouldn't let me stop and…I realized he wasn't breathing. I-I called an ambulance, and they managed to save him, but…I had almost killed him."

Everyone gave Hotaru sympathetic looks as he took a deep breath and continued. "That was the moment that I began to question what the hell I was doing with myself. And that's also when Dai owned up to the fact that he's more perceptive than I thought he was. I had thought my late-night activities were a secret, but Dai had figured it out.

"He said he wouldn't tell anyone…but I didn't believe him and told my 'friends' about him. They wanted to rough him around to shut him up, but I didn't want to. The next night, I froze up in the middle of beating this kid. I just…couldn't do it anymore. The others with me assumed I was going soft and decided to give me the proper Yankee farewell.

"But before they could lay a finger on me, Dai showed up and got in front of me. They…they went after him and I managed to fend them off, but Dai…he had an attack."

Hotaru paused, holding back tears that were threatening to slip down his cheeks. "I got him to a hospital, but…he told me he wanted to die, then and there."

"What?!" Takuya, JP, and Bokomon cried at the same time.

"Why?" Shino asked, trying to sound calmer than he felt.

"His…parents," Hotaru answered softly. "He blames himself for what happened to them. You see…when they had their accident…they had been taking him to a checkup and…he had an attack. They lost focus and ran right into a truck." Hotaru paused again, desperately trying not to cry.

"Dai said that sometimes, he feels so depressed about his parents that he just…loses his will to live. I guess it's trauma or something, but…that's why I keep such a close eye on him. So he doesn't do anything stupid to himself, and so nothing else happens to him. That's why…"

"It makes sense now," Takuya muttered to himself. "You didn't want Dai involved with us because you didn't want anything bad to happen. I'm…sorry I was so hard on you."

"It's okay," Hotaru croaked, breath catching in his throat. "You didn't know."

"Damn," Kouji muttered, looking up at Hotaru. "You two really have had it rough."

"I guess," Hotaru replied, shrugging. "Dai was the first friend I really ever had, but now he hates me…"

"I'm sure that's not true," Zoe said, giving Hotaru a comforting smile. "He just needs a little time alone, and then I'm sure he'll be fine."

"We should try to find him, though," Kouichi added. "A lot could happen to him out by himself."

--

Dai sank to his knees, unable to run any farther. He was breathing hard and he involuntarily lifted his hand to his heart, expecting an attack. When nothing came, he sighed, but whether it was from relief or disappointment he couldn't tell.

He lifted his head and took in his surroundings, noticing a small stream not far from where he sat. His legs shook slightly as he got up, but he made his way over to the stream and sat on its bank.

He leaned forward and stared at his reflection in the clear water. One the outside, he still looked normal, despite his red-rimmed eyes. But he knew that nothing about him would be normal now.

"They know now," he muttered bitterly to his reflection, eyes narrowing. "It can't ever be the same!"

He slapped the water with his hand, causing his reflection to fade into ripples. He leaned back from the water's edge, glaring angrily at the moons in the sky.

"This was supposed to be an escape from all that!" he yelled, feeling exasperated. "They weren't supposed to find out! We were supposed to have an adventure, and save the world, and be heroes, and…and…"

Dai's voice caught in his throat as tears streamed down his face, falling to his lap. "And now I can't ever face them again," he added quietly, wiping his eyes with the back of his arm. "I'm not strong enough…"

"Kid!" Dai turned just in time to see Impmon leap from the trees, landing clumsily in front of Dai.

"Impmon? What are you doing here?" Dai asked, getting up and trying to hide the fact that he'd been crying.

"No use beatin' around the bush," Impmon said, glancing left and right anxiously. "I was ordered by Ilsemon to follow ya, but now I wanna help ya, so jus' trust me for now!"

"Okay," Dai said, not even pausing to consider Impmon's request before agreeing.

Impmon fell over (anime style), exasperated by Dai's instant trust. "Ya don't take me seriously at all, do ya kid?" he asked sarcastically, clenching his teeth.

"Well, I don't consider you a bad guy," Dai replied. "Take it as a compliment!"

"Yeah, whateva," Impmon mumbled, getting back to business. "Anyway, yer in trouble, kid. Ilsemon's sendin' a Digimon here ta take ya out while yer separated from yer friends, jus' ta mess wit' em!"

Dai paused, thinking about what Impmon had said. "How did she know I was separated from them?" he asked.

"Because o' me," Impmon muttered, glancing guiltily at his feet. "She sees what I see and knows what I know. That's why yer in trouble, kid. But…" he paused for a moment, clenching his fists, "…I ain't lettin' ya die!"

"How touching." Both Dai and Impmon's eyes widened, recognizing the voice coming from behind them.

They both turned as the figure stepped out from the cover of the trees, swords gleaming. The figure's expression turned smug at the fear that crossed the others' faces.

"Glad to see you remember me," Duskmon said, raising his sword. "Unfortunately, you won't be around much longer to enjoy my company."

--

_madjack89:_ Well, there you have it! This chapter's a little shorter than the others, but I think it works!

_Hotaru:_ Wow, I really am getting to talk a lot more.

_Dai:_ Yay Taru-kun!

_JP:_ Dude, what are you, bi-polar?!

_Dai:_ What do you mean?

_Takuya:_ You were all depressed and crap in the beginning commentary, and now you're all happy again!

_Dai:_ Well…actually, I was trying to get pity chocolate, but then I remembered what happened last chapter, so I decided I could do without!

_Everyone:_ …

_Kouji:_ You really are an evil little mastermind, aren't you?

_Dai:_ I wouldn't say evil.

_Zoe:_ How about too smart for your own good?

_Dai:_ That works!

_Kouichi:_ Dai, you are just…wow.

_Tommy:_ So Duskmon came back, huh?

_madjack89:_ Yup, and it only took him till chapter five!

_Impmon:_ What about me?! It only took me till chapter four!

_madjack89:_ Did you hear something, Tommy?

_Tommy:_ Nope.

_Impmon:_ Argh, screw you!

_madjack89:_ Alright, see ya everyone!

(BTW, I'm taking a trip to New York City next weekend, so wish me luck!)


	6. Ch 6: A Bad Hand

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing- Chapter 6: A Bad Hand**

_madjack89:_ Yo, everyone! Who's ready for the next chapter of F2R?

_Dai:_ Me!

_madjack89:_ Thought you'd be excited, Dai! Yes, now we all understand what's going on with Dai and Hotaru, but what about Duskmon's reappearance? And is yet another of Ilsemon's followers gonna switch sides?

_Kouichi:_ Speaking of which, what did you do with Gatomon?

_madjack89:_ All in good time, Chief, all in good time.

_Kouji:_ I'm sorry, Kouichi, but knowing Madjack, Gatomon's probably dead or worse.

_Kouichi:_ Worse?

_JP:_ You know, like the walking undead!

_Kouji:_ Uh, that's not what I meant…

_Takuya:_ Gatomon did not turn into a vampire, JP.

_JP:_ I didn't mean vampire, I meant zombie!

_Kira:_ If Gatomon was a vampire, would she drink human AND Digimon blood, or just Digimon blood?

_Shino:_ And could a Digimon really even turn into a zombie? I mean, if they died, they'd just turn into a Digi-Egg, right?

_Zoe:_ But the Wizardmon from seasons one and two turned into a ghost, right?

_Tommy:_ And actually, Sorcerymon turned into a ghost too!

_Hotaru:_ It's starting to sound like only wizard Digimon come back as ghosts.

_JP:_ So even if we beat Wizardmon, he's gonna come back as a ghost?

_Takuya:_ You have got to be freaking kidding me!

_Kouichi:_ You guys are beginning to depress me.

_Kouji:_ Well, Gatomon might still be alive…maybe.

_Kouichi:_ Madjack, just answer reviews.

_madjack89:_ Okie-dokes!

_Dawn of Glory:_ Aw, am I the only one who thinks goggle heads rock?! It's their stupidity that makes them awesome! But I can see where you're coming from. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_GoldenDragon326:_ Yeah, poor Dai. And I just thought it was a good time for a Data Squad reference! Woot! And go horrible cliffhangers (sorry lol)! Thanks for reviewing, and I did really enjoy myself in NYC!

_Kayland Elric:_ Savers was there because they've bumped up to my second favorite Digimon season (but Frontier will always be my number one)! Plus I love random references (hence the jokes about Star Wars)! Thanks for the review!

_Aldamonburst:_ Aw, I just looked up KoKabuterimon, and he was really cute! I may have to work rookie forms into the story someday now, just because of that! And Neemon will eventually do something, but c'mon, against Duskmon? (lol) Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_GreyDramon:_ You both have really good imaginations, in that case! But the Fusion evolutions won't be here for a bit longer (Dai and Kira don't even have Beast Spirits yet)! Don't fret though, they're coming! And sorry about your stomach troubles, LadyGreymon. You gotta be careful with that Mexican food! (lol) Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_agoodcupoftea:_ Actually, I went to NYC with my school band on a band trip (yup, I'm a band geek)! We didn't go to Manhattan, but it was still really fun! Okay, thanks for reviewing!

_garnettfox:_ Sweet, you got stories up! And sweet, Dragramon sounds cool! I could most definitely use her (especially if she acts like Dai)! Anyway, thanks for reviewing and everything!

_hazeleyedharmony:_ Thought someone would like it! (_Kouichi: sigh_)

part 1: Mua ha ha, I'm forcing people to like Impmon! I'm so evil! (lol)

part 2 (or dos): Heh, thanks! And Kira is always my go-to girl for lightening the mood (either her or Dai but…you know).

part 3: **CRISPIN FREEMAN!** (hee)

part 4: Aw, sorry I'm making it sad, but if you think this is bad, just wait! (ha ha ha…)

the rest: (_Dai:_ Fair enough.) Thanks for reviewing and I was seriously on a roll!

_fg1fg:_ I'll put that chocolate away for later and drink my drink right now (_Kouji:_ Oh god…). Thanks for reviewing!

_Jaymon:_ Sorry, but I had already paid money for the trip and then I got homework piled on me, but here's your new chapter, where at least one of your questions will be answered! (But you really are asking all the right questions, I must say!) And I'm going to have to detain that cake for a chapter or two to make sure Dai doesn't go ballistic again (though you'd probably like that)! Thank you for reviewing!

_apapa155:_ Yeah, poor little Dai. And Duskmon can be a real jerk, can't he? Oh well! Thanks for reviewing!

_madjack89:_ Alright, enough of this talk of Gatomon! It's time for chapter six!

_Takuya:_ Wait, Duskmon came back, too!

_madjack89:_ Takuya!

_Takuya:_ Sorry.

--

"Kid, look out!" As Duskmon brought his sword down, Dai and Impmon jumped back, barely missing the blade.

"You didn't have to tell me to dodge, I would have done it anyway," Dai muttered, glancing at Impmon.

"Well, ya didn't move when I attacked ya!" Impmon retorted.

"Well…neh!" Dai replied, sticking his tongue out at Impmon.

"Deadly Gaze!" Dai and Impmon looked up suddenly and saw a large beam of red energy coming toward them. Impmon hopped out of the way while Dai, not having the agility of a Digimon, dropped quickly to the ground to avoid the blast.

"You know, you really shouldn't ignore someone that's trying to kill you," Duskmon said, pointing his sword threatening at Dai.

Impmon quickly jumped in front of Dai, raising his arms protectively. "I'd like ta see ya try ta lay a finger on this kid," he said, narrowing his eyes.

Duskmon paused for a moment, then retracted his sword, staring at Impmon thoughtfully. "So you're switching sides, Impmon?" Duskmon asked curiously. "Ilsemon's power must not be as great as it seems."

"Well, what about you?" Impmon replied, glaring at Duskmon. "Ya aren't loyal ta Ilsemon, just yourself!"

Duskmon chuckled at this. "Myself? Do you honestly believe I would stoop to taking orders from Ilsemon if I were only loyal to myself? No, I have a master, and it's only because of her that I've joined Ilsemon's ranks."

Dai stared curiously at Duskmon, noticing a flicker of some emotion in his eyes. As he stood back up, Dai asked, "What are you really after, Duskmon?"

Duskmon turned his attention from Impmon to Dai, slightly surprised by his question. "For now, I suppose I'm after your life," he replied. "Though I don't mind getting a good rematch with you. Besides, I thought I might get to see my good friend Kouichi if I came here."

"Why are you so interested in Kouichi?" Dai asked, curiosity growing. "What does he have to do with anything?"

Duskmon smirked at Dai. "He still hasn't told you? Liar."

Impmon glanced at Dai, looking surprised. "Ya don't know about Kouichi's connection ta Duskmon?" he asked.

Dai shook his head quickly, curiosity at its peak. "What connection? What's going on? Wow, I'll have to ask Kouichi when I…"

Dai stopped, realizing he had almost said _when I get back_. "But I can't go back," he muttered, lowering his head dejectedly. "Not now…"

"Kid," Impmon said quietly, staring sympathetically at Dai.

"Well," Duskmon said suddenly, turning everyone's attention back to him. "I really should get back to my assignment before the rest of your little group shows up."

"What happened ta wantin' ta see Kouichi?" Impmon asked sarcastically.

"First of all, it will be easier to kill the kid if he doesn't have any backup," Duskmon began, not even bothering to count Impmon as backup. "And I'll get to see Kouichi again in the future."

"If my friends come," Dai suddenly said, still staring at the ground, "then you can go ahead and kill me."

"Kid!" Impmon cried. "That's exactly what we're trying to avoid!"

"I'm not finished," Dai continued, cutting Impmon off. "I can't face my friends, but since they aren't here, I'm not gonna go down easily, Duskmon!" With this Dai held up his D-Tector, preparing to Spirit Evolve.

Duskmon smirked, bringing out his sword. "This should be interesting."

--

"Dai!" Takuya cried once again, searching behind yet another bush for his friend. When he found nothing in the bush, he sighed. "C'mon buddy, where the heck are you?"

"It's just our luck that he's so damn short," Kouji muttered, glancing at Hotaru. "How is it that you're so tall and he's so short, anyway?"

"Genetics?" Hotaru replied, shrugging.

"Dang that kid!" Everyone turned as Kira stomped up angrily from behind a tree, followed by Shino, Kouichi, and Tommy.

"No luck, huh?" Takuya asked.

"There's no sign of him," Kouichi replied.

"And after Kira started having a hissy fit, we decided that it would be much more prudent to put her in a group with her boyfriend than with the likes of us," Shino added, smiling mischievously at Takuya.

"Thanks guys, you're the best," Takuya said sarcastically, glaring at the three.

"But she gets scary when she's angry, and we thought that you'd be able to calm her down a little," Tommy said quickly, trying to redeem himself.

Takuya sighed, unable to stay mad at Tommy, at least. "You really think I can handle her better than anyone else would be able to?"

"No, but we thought you'd have a better shot than us," Shino said, still smiling.

"Have a shot at what?" Shino jumped as Kazemon landed behind him.

"Oh, hey Zoe," Shino mumbled, lowering his head to hide his blushing.

"So, no luck in your search either?" Takuya asked Kazemon quickly, trying to cover for Shino.

"Nope," Kazemon replied.

"It's like trying to find a needle in a haystack with all these leaves," Beetlemon added, landing beside Kazemon. "Sorry, Hotaru."

"It's fine," Hotaru replied quietly. "He'll turn up sooner or later, I'm sure."

Suddenly the bushes near Hotaru began to rustle, and a muffled voice was coming from inside it. Everyone's eyes widened.

"Dai?" Hotaru said hopefully, crouching down and parting the branches and leaves of the bush.

"Neemon, stop your squirming and help me get my waistband uncaught!" Bokomon cried angrily, struggling to unstick his pink band from the clutches of the bush.

"I would if I could but I can't!" Neemon replied, also struggling to unstick his pants from the bush.

Everyone's faces fell, realizing they had only heard Bokomon and Neemon. As everyone approached the bush to help the two Digimon, Witchmon hopped out from behind the trees, looking anxious.

"Guys, we have a problem! I lost Bokomon and Neemon! I don't know where they…" Witchmon stopped abruptly when she noticed Bokomon and Neemon in the bush. "Oh," she said. "Never mind, then."

--

"Seismic Sledge!" Grumblemon swung his hammer again, only to have Duskmon dodge his attack and counter with a slash of his sword. "Gah!" Grumblemon cried, hopping backward.

"Hang on, kid!" Impmon leaped in front of Grumblemon, shooting a small burst of flame at Duskmon. Duskmon slashed the fire with his sword and it dissipated, not making a single scratch.

Grumblemon and Impmon stared at Duskmon exasperatedly, breathing hard. _We keep firing attacks at him, but nothing's working!_ Grumblemon thought. _There has to be something…that's it!_

"Impmon, cover me. I'm gonna try something!" Grumblemon said, glaring at Duskmon.

Impmon glanced at Grumblemon, surprised. "What're ya gonna do, kid?"

"You'll see." Grumblemon smiled, putting his hammer to the side. "Hey Duskmon, how about a game of whack a mole?"

Duskmon's eyes narrowed as Grumblemon prepared to dig under the earth. "Oh no you don't!"

"You no YOU don't!" Impmon retorted, creating a fairly large sphere of fire in his palm. "Infernal Funnel!" With this exclamation he hurled the fire straight at Duskmon, trying to buy Grumblemon some time.

As the fire got closer, Duskmon smirked, raising his sword. "You are no match for me," he said quietly, slicing his sword through the air in front of him. The sword slash emitted a large amount of energy which flew through the air, demolishing anything in its path, including Impmon and Grumblemon.

When the dust from his attack cleared, Duskmon saw that both Impmon and Dai lay motionless before him, Fractal Codes glowing. Duskmon retracted his sword, slowly approaching Dai.

Impmon's eyes fluttered open as Duskmon passed him, headed for Dai. "Kid," he muttered weakly, struggling to get up.

Dai also began to regain consciousness just as Duskmon grabbed him by the front collar of his shirt, raising him into the air. Dai clenched his teeth, glaring angrily at Duskmon while trying to fight back the pain he felt coursing through him.

Duskmon smirked, saying quietly, "Round two: me." He then dropped Dai roughly to the ground in front of him, raising his sword above his head.

_So this is how it ends,_ Dai thought, staring dully at Duskmon's blade. _I thought it would be a relief, but…_ Dai squeezed his eyes shut, feeling tears in them. _…I don't want to die yet!_

"Wait!" Dai opened his eyes when he heard Impmon, staring as the Digimon got slowly to his feet. Duskmon turned, staring at Impmon as well.

Impmon glared furiously at Duskmon for a moment, then said, "Take me instead!"

"Impmon, don't!" Dai cried, horrified.

Impmon glanced at Dai for a second, smiling. Then he turned his gaze back to Duskmon and said, "I'm a traitor, ain't I? Whether ya like it or not, it's ya duty to take care o' traitors like me. Kill me and leave the kid be."

Duskmon chuckled before saying, "That might have worked on someone more loyal, like Wizardmon. However, I feel no need to take care of a so-called traitor like you, Impmon. I could care less what you choose to do with yourself. I was told to kill the warrior of earth, and that is what I shall do."

With that, Duskmon turned his attention back to Dai, preparing to deliver the final blow. Dai's eyes widened in fear as Duskmon began to lower his blade.

"Dai!"

Dai gasped, recognizing the voice he heard from behind him. "Hotaru?" he said, turning around.

"Not quite," Impmon said quietly. "Weren't ya wonderin' why this was called the TV forest?"

Dai realized that Impmon was right when he saw his cousin's image projected on the large tree behind him. "What is…?" Dai began to ask as he noticed the rest of his friends standing among some trees.

"It's projecting an image of what your friends are doing at this very moment," Duskmon explained, lowering his arm. "Including Kouichi."

Suddenly Kouichi sneezed in the projection. "You okay, Chief?" Takuya asked, glancing at Kouichi.

"Yeah," Kouichi muttered, looking thoughtful. "I just got this really bad feeling all of a sudden." Dai flinched as Kouichi looked up, seeming to be staring right at him.

"Great, a bad premonition's all we need right now," JP muttered sarcastically, turning Kouichi's attention back to the group.

"Do you think Dai's alright?" Tommy asked no one in particular.

"I'm sure he's fine," Zoe said reassuringly, but Dai could tell she wasn't so sure herself.

"I am fine," Dai said, wishing he could let them know that.

"I really wish he were here right now," Takuya said quietly. "He always makes things more cheerful with his crazy personality."

"I do?" Dai asked, slightly surprised.

"He always tries to look on the bright side of things," Shino added, smiling.

"Really?" Dai got to his feet, walking slowly over to the tree. "I really do all that?"

After a pause, Kouji said, "It's so stupid." The others, including Dai, stared at him in confusion. "Why does a kid like that have to be dying? It's so freaking stupid…it annoys the hell out of me!"

"Even you, Kouji?" Dai said softly, a tear escaping his eye.

"Sometimes people, even good people, are just dealt a bad hand," Hotaru suddenly said, causing Dai to look up again.

"All we can do for him now is be his friends," Hotaru continued, looking at the rest of the group and smiling. "That's probably all he wants."

Dai's eyes widened in shock as the others agreed with Hotaru's statement. Then the projection on the tree disappeared, and the image of the rest of the gang vanished.

No one spoke for a few moments. All that could be heard was the wind whistling through the trees. Dai didn't make a sound or a move to turn around.

"Kid," Impmon muttered quietly. "Don't ya see? Yer friends'll always be there for ya."

"Okay, this is beginning to get way too corny," Duskmon said, raising his sword again. "It's time I did what I came here to do."

"No!" Impmon cried as Duskmon slashed his sword through the air, headed straight for Dai.

Just before the sword made contact, though, Duskmon noticed Dai smirk. Then Dai turned on his heel, watching as Duskmon's sword swished past him, inches from his neck.

"Damn it!" Duskmon cursed, glaring at Dai.

"Kid?" Impmon said quietly, noticing Dai's smirk.

Suddenly Dai chuckled, his expression hidden by his downturned face. "You thought I would go down easy, didn't you?" Dai muttered just loud enough for Duskmon to hear. "I don't have anything going for me, just a giant hammer."

Then Dai lifted his head, staring at Duskmon with a determined expression. It was then that both Duskmon and Impmon noticed Dai's hand glowing with data. But it seemed like a different kind of data, more powerful almost.

"I don't usually like to cuss, but I'll make an exception for you," Dai continued, smiling as he held up his D-Tector. "Duskmon, I am gonna kick your ass! Beast Spirit Evolution!"

With that Dai went through the process of beast spirit evolution and soon in his place stood Gigasmon.

Duskmon and Impmon stared at Dai's new evolution for a moment. Then Impmon said, "Duskmon, you are so gonna lose."

--

_madjack89:_ Sorry this chapter took so long in getting to you guys. I've been busy lately. But on another note, yay, another Beast Spirit has come into the picture!

_Dai:_ Yay!

_Kouji:_ Oh god…

_madjack89:_ Anyway, in case anyone was wondering, I had an awesome time in New York! Wootness with a cherry on top!

_Kouichi:_ You seem a little hyper right now, Madjack.

_madjack89:_ You can thank fg1fg for supplying me with my favorite drink! (see comments)

_Kouji:_ Why torture us, fg1fg?

_madjack89:_ Mua ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha!

_Everyone:_ …

_Shino:_ …Anyway, apparently the next chapter is going to wrap up the Dai/Hotaru past revealing arc and get into a new arc that focuses on…Takuya and Kira?

_Takuya and Kira:_ What?!

_JP:_ All I can say is good luck with that.

_Kira:_ Madjack, what are you gonna do to us?

_madjack89:_ You'll see! Ha ha ha!

_Zoe:_ …Well, I guess we'll see you guys in chapter seven.

_Hotaru:_ Remember: sugar is a privilege, not a right.

_madjack89:_ Hee hee!


	7. Ch 7: Rock Solid

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing- Chapter 7: Rock Solid**

_madjack89:_ Howdy guys! It's finally time for Dai to kick butt with a Beast Spirit!

_Dai:_ Yay!

_Kira:_ How could you give Dai a Beast Spirit before me, Madjack?!

_madjack89:_ It's just the way things worked out. Sorry Kira!

_Kira:_ Humph!

_Dai:_ I love this Beast Spirit! It's awesome!

_Hotaru:_ It's interesting, I'll give it that.

_Kouji:_ Actually, in all honesty, your Beast Spirit is really…

_Kouichi:_ Great! Right, Kouji?

_Kouji:_ No, I was going to say it's…

_JP:_ Awesome!

_Kouji:_ Guys, we all know it's…

_Zoe:_ Awe-inspiring!

_Kouji:_ …Yeah, sure.

_Takuya:_ Good job with plan "stop Kouji from being an asshole," guys!

_Kouji:_ Wait, what?

_madjack89:_ Review time!

_Aldamonburst:_ What if you were the one writing this story? Then you could answer your own questions! (lol) But anyway, I'll put Velgemon in eventually, but not now (too many trees). Thanks for reviewing!

_Dawn of Glory:_ Yay for no more Dai depression! Now he can go back to amusing us! And yes, I agree with the both of you, way too corny, but necessary nonetheless. Thanks for reviewing!

_hazeleyedharmony:_ Well, I'm still sorry for the wait, but I'm glad it was worth it!

part 1: I can answer this, since it's more of a subplot at the moment. Yes, that does mean there is technically someone else. I can't tell you who yet, but I will tell you it will involve Kouichi (no it's not Cherubimon).

part 2: Taki would need luck (lol)! Yeah, I'm torturing Shino again (hee), and Bokomon and Neemon…yeah never mind.

part 3: Duskmon was distracted by Kouichi sensing him (he was thinking about it). So they were both distracted! Aw, I wouldn't kill Impmon off THAT quick! I wuffles little Impmon! (_Impmon:_ Wuffles?)

You and Hotaru never let me have any fun! (lol) And I hang out with the orchestra nerds a lot, but I don't think I could ever be one! I'd poke my eye out somehow with the bow! Thanks for reviewing!

_GoldenDragon326:_ Heh, I liked the genetics part, too! And if you really want me too, I could probably have Guilmon do something (or Terriermon. It's a toss-up.) Concerning Holiday, I actually just started writing the second chapter the other day, so it may not take as long as you think! Thanks for the review!

_garnettfox:_ …Amazing! If you're okay with it, I have a plan for Dragramon! It'll be a good role, and I promise not to kill her off! But let me just ask your permission on this one thing. Would you mind if Dragramon and Witchmon were friends? Like, in this story? I only ask this in case you really hate Witchmon and don't want this to happen. Okay, thanks for the review and permission to use Dragramon!

_agoodcupoftea:_ Me and my friends in band actually use band geek as a term of endearment (we're all pretty insane, even our band director)! All this talk of your song writing makes me want to hear one of your songs! I'm sure they're awesome! And drum set rocks, so go for it! Thanks for reviewing!

_fg1fg:_ Well, there are a couple people that are a bit miffed at you (you can probably guess who). But they'll get over it, so it's okay! Though after my fifth giggle fit, Kouji looked like he was about to kill himself (lol)! Anyway, thanks for the review!

_beybladeingninjaprincess:_ Awesome, another Dai fan! He's such a little cutie, isn't he? (_Dai:_ I try!) Sorry about the dying thing, though. Anyway, if Kira snapped and tried beating up Kouji, Kouji would be in trouble (lol)! Wait, don't steal them yet! After this chapter's over, you can have them! (_Kouji, Kouichi, Duskmon:_ What?!) Alright, thanks for reviewing!

_madjack89:_ Okay, time for chapter seven to commence!

_Kouji:_ Wait, you guys orchestrated a whole plan around the fact that I tend to act a little bit like an asshole sometimes?

_Takuya:_ Um…Chief did it! _points at Kouichi and runs away_

_Kouichi:_ Takuya!

_Kouji: glares at Kouichi_

_madjack89:_ Let's get on with the chapter already!

(BTW, Kouji was gonna say that Gigasmon is a little suckish as Beast Spirits go, which he kind of is.)

--

"Wow," Gigasmon muttered, staring at his massive hands in awe. "These could really do some damage!"

"Um, kid…" Impmon began.

"And this nose is ginormous! I thought Grumblemon's was big, but this one may rival it!" Gigasmon continued, noticing the girth of his nose.

"Yes kid, yer nose is very big, but…" Impmon said.

"And look at this physique!" Gigasmon exclaimed, ignoring Impmon as he checked out his upper body. "My gym teacher always said I was a scrawny weakling, but look at me now!" (Seriously, he looks ripped!)

"Deadly Gaze!" Gigasmon looked up in time to see Duskmon aim his arms and eyes at him and shoot various beams of red energy.

"Kid!" Impmon made a move to leap forward and defend Gigasmon, but before he did, Gigasmon bent down and jumped straight up into the air. Duskmon's attack missed its target and instead hit a tree, causing Duskmon to growl in frustration.

However, Duskmon didn't have much time to brood on this, for as Gigasmon fell back to the ground, he lifted his hands, preparing an oh-so-familiar attack. "Tectonic Slam!" he cried as his fists slammed hard into the ground, causing thousands of cracks and fissures to form.

"Kid, can ya give me a little warnin'?!" Impmon exclaimed, leaping quickly into the air and landing on a tree branch.

Duskmon wasn't as lucky as Impmon, for the attack had taken him by surprise and the shaking ground made him lose his balance. Both Impmon and Gigasmon watched in shock as Duskmon fell to the ground, landing clumsily on his butt.

For a moment no one moved, and even the ground stopped shaking. Then Gigasmon and Impmon burst out in uncontrollable laughter.

"Did ya see that, kid?" Impmon said between his chuckles. "He landed right on his ass!"

"What happened to him being such a 'mighty warrior'?" Gigasmon managed to say before bursting into another fit of laughter.

Duskmon glared angrily at the other two Digimon, cheeks turning slightly red. He got slowly to his feet as Gigasmon and Impmon continued to laugh, shaking with rage. "I'll show you…" he muttered under his breath.

Impmon suddenly stopped laughing as he noticed the dark energy surrounding Duskmon. "Uh, kid?" he called nervously, trying to get Gigasmon's attention. "I think we got a problem."

"What?" Gigasmon glanced at Impmon, then at Duskmon. His face fell slightly when he noticed Duskmon's angry state. "Uh…sorry Duskmon?"

"I'm really gonna kill you now!" Duskmon exclaimed, causing darkness to flare up from the ground fissures created by Gigasmon's attack.

"Argh!" Gigasmon cried when the dark energy touched him. "It hurts…how can Kouichi stand this…argh!"

"Duskmon, stop dis!" Impmon shouted, glowering at the dark Digimon.

Duskmon smirked, glancing at Impmon. "No," he said simply, actually intensifying the darkness in the fissures.

"ARGH!" Gigasmon screamed, scrambling to find a spot on the ground without any dark energy.

Impmon's glare grew fiery as he yelled, "Duskmon, stop dis right now or I'm gonna make ya stop!"

Duskmon chuckled, staring at Impmon. "Would you stop pretending that you have any real concern for this child?"

Impmon's anger melted instantly, replaced by a look of shock. "What'd ya mean?"

"You know what I mean," Duskmon replied. "You see so much of that old friend of yours in this child that you feel the need to protect him, because you couldn't protect your friend. Correct?"

Impmon clenched his teeth, fighting back the memories he always tried to conceal. "Shut up," he said quietly. "You don't know nothin'."

Duskmon shrugged. "Whatever you say," he replied, causing even more darkness to flow from the ground so that it actually had the substance to reach up and touch Impmon in the tree.

"ARGH!!" Impmon and Gigasmon cried together, thinking that no other pain could feel this intense.

--

Kouichi gasped suddenly, stopping in his tracks.

Kouji stopped too, glancing anxiously at his brother. "Kouichi, what's—"

"What's wrong?" Zoe asked, interrupting Kouji as she linked arms with Kouichi.

Kouji frowned, feeling put out. _I was about to say that._ He shook his head roughly when he noticed Kouichi smile at Zoe warmly. _At least he's happy,_ Kouji thought, still feeling slightly jealous.

"Yeah Chief, what's up?" Kouji was brought back from his thoughts by Kira's question.

"Remember earlier when I said I got a bad feeling?" Kouichi asked. The others nodded. "Well, that feeling just got worse."

"Worse how?" Shino asked warily.

Kouichi paused here, looking down. _He does that when he's trying to hide something,_ Kouji thought, preparing to coax an answer out of his brother.

Before he got the chance, though, Zoe said, "Kouichi, you're hiding something."

_It happened again,_ Kouji thought, beginning to get annoyed. Why did Zoe keep butting in?

"Well," Kouichi muttered, glancing uncomfortably at his friends curious looks. "I think that I sensed…Duskmon."

"Duskmon!" everyone exclaimed, surprised.

Kouichi nodded, clenching his fists. "I know he's here, but I can't figure out where."

_Duskmon_. Kouji thought the name, and still it gave him a feeling of unease. _If you even try to lay one finger on Kouichi, I'll…_

"Wait." Everyone, including Kouji, turned to stare at Hotaru, who looked like he had just had a horrible revelation. "Duskmon is wandering around these woods, and Dai is out there alone. What if…?"

Hotaru didn't need to finish his last sentence, for the others realized what he was getting at. "Oh crap!" Takuya and JP exclaimed at the same time.

"Damn you, Duskmon," Kouichi muttered angrily, teeth clenching.

Kouji glanced at Kouichi worriedly. He knew what always happened to Kouichi when Duskmon was even mentioned. _He loses his reason, and with Dai involved in this, it'll be ten times worse._ Suddenly Kouji frowned, narrowing his eyes. _But why should I be concerned about that? Isn't helping Kouichi Zoe's job now?_ he thought bitterly.

"Kouji?" Kouji looked up, noticing Kouichi staring at him curiously. "Are you okay? You look ticked off," Kouichi continued.

_Yeah, well, why don't you just get Zoe's analysis on what the hell's wrong!_ Kouji pushed this thought out of his mind and said, "I was just…thinking."

Kouichi cocked his head, looking concerned. "Thinking about what?"

Before Kouji could respond, Takuya said, "Guys, are you coming? We gotta find Dai now!"

"Right," Kouichi agreed, following everyone else as they hurried farther into the woods. Kouji sighed heavily, trailing slightly behind the others.

_What good am I to him now?_ Kouji thought sadly, staring wistfully at his brother's back.

--

Gigasmon rose slowly, trembling from Duskmon's attack. He scanned the clearing quickly, noticing Impmon laying a few feet away, unconscious. Gigasmon glared angrily at a triumphant-looking Duskmon standing in front of him.

"You're more resilient in this form," Duskmon commented, smirking. "But that won't help you now."

Once again, Duskmon slowly raised his blade, preparing to slash it through Gigasmon. "Wait!" Gigasmon exclaimed suddenly.

"I'm tired of waiting. You die now!" With this, Duskmon brought down his blade, aiming right for Gigasmon's head.

Gigasmon shut his eyes tightly, instinctively raising his arms to meet the inevitable blow of Duskmon's sword. Then Gigasmon felt a pressure against his arms and…nothing.

Gigasmon opened his eyes tentatively, wondering what was going on. He looked up to see what the hold up might be and his eyes widened in amazement. Duskmon's blade had indeed met against his arms, but that was all it had done.

Gigasmon also noticed that Duskmon seemed to be trying very hard to make the blade slice through him, but still nothing was happening. The sword hadn't even made a dent.

"It doesn't even hurt," Gigasmon muttered, smiling slowly. "I guess this puts a big set-back in that plan to kill me, doesn't it?"

"What's going on?" Duskmon wondered out loud, frustrated beyond belief.

-

_Bokomon:_ Allow me to answer your question, Duskmon. You see, as Gigasmon, Daiki's skin-

_Dai:_ Dai!

_Bokomon:_ Um…DAI'S skin-

_Dai:_ There you go!

_Bokomon:_ Will you please let me finish!

_Dai:_ Sorry.

_Bokomon:_ I swear, you're as bad as Neemon. Anyway, Gigasmon's skin possesses a firmness beyond that of ceramics so, in laymen's terms, his skin is rock-solid.

-

"Are you telling me that I can't kill this child with any of my physical attacks while he's in this form?" Duskmon asked Bokomon exasperatedly.

-

_Bokomon:_ Well, you could eventually, but probably not before the rest of us find you.

-

"Damn it!" Duskmon cried angrily, taking a few steps back and shaking with rage. "You are the most troublesome, annoying opponent I have ever faced!"

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Gigasmon replied, smiling cheerily. "Well, not the opponent part, but you get the idea!"

Gigasmon grew more serious as he continued, "But anyway, since I'm pretty much impervious to your blade and can just dodge your other attacks, I guess it's my turn to attack you! Quagm—"

Gigasmon stopped mid-attack when Duskmon suddenly whipped out his other blade and pointed it threateningly at Impmon, who looked like he was just coming to.

"No, don't!" Gigasmon cried, raising his hands up. "See, I give up! I won't attack you if you don't attack him!"

"Kid?" Impmon murmured groggily. "What da heck is…?"

Duskmon glanced at Impmon, then at Gigasmon. Finally, he said, "Very well. I will take my leave of you for now. There is nothing else to be done, now that you have acquired a Beast Spirit. But know that next time, I won't hesitate to kill you."

"Ditto," Gigasmon said quietly, watching as Duskmon slowly backed out of the clearing. After a few minutes Gigasmon relaxed, turning to the spot where Impmon was and saying, "Well, that was a pretty crazy fight, huh Impmon?"

But then he suddenly noticed that Impmon wasn't in the spot he'd been a moment ago. In fact, Gigasmon realized, Impmon wasn't anywhere in the clearing.

"Impmon?" Gigasmon called tentatively, glancing up at the trees. "Where are you?"

When no one answered, Gigasmon turned back to his human form, deciding to search for Impmon in the bushes beyond the clearing. When Dai parted the branches of one of the bushes, he did find someone, but it wasn't Impmon.

"Hotaru!" Dai cried happily, making his way quickly through the bush and giving his cousin a hug. "I was wondering where you were!"

"Dai?" Hotaru said, thrown off my Dai's hyperness. "I thought you were—"

"Mad?" Dai finished Hotaru's thought, smiling. "Well, I was for a little while, but now I'm fine!"

"You have got to be bleeping kidding me," JP said exasperatedly.

"Only Dai could go off for a couple hours after being extremely depressed and then suddenly come back and be hyper again," Kira said, smirking. "Glad you're okay, Dai."

"Wait a second," Kouji said suddenly, staring at Dai. "Did you say earlier that you were wondering where WE were?"

"Well yeah," Dai replied as if it were obvious. "I thought you guys would be back at camp, but then that TV thingy popped up and you guys were in some random part of the woods."

"TV thingy?" Shino asked, cocking his head. "What is a TV thingy?"

"We'll tell you later," Takuya muttered, yawning. "Let's just get back to camp. We haven't gotten any sleep at all because of you, you little troublemaker," he added, mock-scolding Dai.

Dai smiling sheepishly, noticing his friends' tired expressions. _They really do care,_ he thought happily. _Even now that they know about me_. "Sorry guys," he said. "I promise I won't ever do that again!"

--

Impmon sighed heavily, watching as Dai left with the rest of his friends. "Didn't I tell ya, kid?" he said to himself, turning and leaping to the branch of another tree.

He landed clumsily, almost falling off the branch. He quickly grabbed onto the tree trunk, steadying himself. He clutched his chest with his other hand, feeling another pang of pain.

"Maybe I shoulda let da kid take me in," Impmon muttered through clenched teeth, fighting back the urge to cry out in pain. "It's gotta be better than workin' fer Ilsemon."

Then HER face flashed through Impmon's mind, the way it had looked before she was taken away forever by…

"No," Impmon said fiercely, determination returning. "I have ta get stronger, so dat nothing like dat will eva happen again. I'll only be able ta do dat wit Ilsemon."

Impmon glanced back at the clearing once more. "Sorry kid, but dis is somethin' I have ta do."

--

Later, after Dai had recounted what had happened to the others, and reassured them that Duskmon hadn't hurt him THAT much, the gang was finally preparing to get at least a few hours of sleep that night.

"So Impmon really did help you?" Hotaru asked for about the hundredth time.

"He said yes already, Taru!" Kira exclaimed, getting annoyed.

Hotaru frowned, saying, "I'm just making sure. I mean, last time we came face to face with Impmon, all he did the whole time was shoot fire at us."

"Well, we'll just have to take Dai's word on it for now," Takuya said, trying unsuccessfully to calm Kira down.

"Guys, I've got this crazy idea, and it's called let's stop bickering and get some sleep before I make you shut up!" Kouji snapped, rolling over and glaring sullenly at the trees.

"Uh oh, pretty boy's cranky," Kira muttered, smirking.

"Watch it, Yankee," Kouji growled threateningly.

"Which Yankee; me or Taru?" Kira asked sarcastically.

"Oh, she got you there," Witchmon said, chuckling.

"She knows damn well what Yankee I'm talking about; the one that never shuts up!" Kouji exclaimed angrily.

"Is it just me, or is Kouji now contributing to the noise?" JP muttered to Shino.

"Don't say that out loud, or you'll get dragged into this too," Shino replied exhaustedly. "But I swear, someone had better shut them up soon."

"I could help you with that, if you like."

Shino jumped, turning around. "Kouichi, did you say something?" he asked, looking curiously at Kouichi, who was currently sitting against a tree and trying to hide the fact that he was still brooding about Duskmon.

"What?" Kouichi asked, not having heard Shino's question.

"No, he didn't say anything, Shino," Zoe answered, sighing at Kouichi's spaciness.

"I swear I heard someone that sounded like him…" Shino muttered thoughtfully.

"You heard me," the voice said again, and suddenly a small figure floated out from beyond the trees.

The figure looked like a little tapir with armor on its face. It had small gray clouds for back feet, and a golden ring on its front foot. "I'm Bakumon. It's a pleasure to meet you," said the Digimon, smiling at Shino.

"Look Tommy, it's your little friend," JP said sarcastically.

"Didn't I tell you guys that Crispin Freeman was here?" Tommy said happily, ignoring JP's comment.

Bakumon pondered Tommy's comment for a moment, then chuckled. "I suppose he is!"

"Crispin, you and I are gonna have to have a talk about your random roles in Digimon," Kouichi muttered to himself, rolling his eyes.

"You think that's bad, then I got one name for you: Dave Wittenberg," JP said, smirking.

(I couldn't help myself!)

--

~_Duskmon, why did you not wait for him?~_

Duskmon flinched, stung by the stern tone in her voice. "I'm sorry," he said simply, not knowing what else to say.

She sighed, still seeming annoyed. _~Well, I suppose I can forgive you just this once.~_

"I'm sorry," Duskmon said again, hoping against hope that she would find it in her heart to forgive him.

Her voice softened as she continued. _~Don't be discouraged, pet. We'll get him back on the path of reason soon, and then we can fill this world with darkness together.~_

"Yes," Duskmon said quietly. "Kouichi will soon come to his senses, and then you'll be happy."

_~Yes!~_ she said excitedly. _~My little black cat will return to me soon!~_

--

_madjack89:_ Well, there you have it! Dai's problems may be over for now, but looks like Kouichi's are just beginning.

_Kouichi:_ Why do you pick on me so much?

_madjack89:_ Because you're easy to pick on!

_Kouichi: sigh_

_Kouji:_ Madjack, I can already guess what you're planning to do to me.

_madjack89:_ Trust me, Kouji, you will be just as surprised as everyone else.

_Takuya:_ That's not a very good sign, pretty boy.

_Kouji:_ WHAT THE HELL DID YOU JUST CALL ME!

_Takuya:_ Uh…Kira did it! _runs_

_Kouji: glares at Kira_

_Kira:_ Bring it on, pretty boy!

_Zoe:_ Okay, I think it's time to wrap it up now, Madjack!

_madjack89:_ Good idea.

_Kouichi:_ Kouji, calm down!

_Takuya:_ Cool your jets, Kira!

_Kira: accidentally punches Takuya on way to Kouji_

_Takuya:_ Argh!

_Kira:_ Taki!

_Tommy:_ Oh no, he's bleeding!

_madjack89:_ Oh great, now Taki's nose is bleeding all over the place. See ya later, guys!


	8. Ch 8: Fortune Telling

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing- Chapter 8: Fortune Telling**

_madjack89:_ Hey guys! For all of you who cared if Taki was okay (which was actually pretty much no one), don't worry, he's fine. Luckily, Kira didn't break his nose!

_Kouji:_ Yeah, but there was blood everywhere.

_Tommy:_ It was scary! I didn't think that much blood could come out of someone's nose!

_JP:_ Well kid, according to the anime Law of Hemoglobin Capacity, our bodies contain over 12 gallons of blood, sometimes more, under high pressure.

_Tommy:_ What?!

_Kouji:_ Holy crap, JP, isn't that going a little over the top?

_JP:_ Guys, let's face it; anime doesn't follow any laws of physics whatsoever. So we made up our own!

_Dai:_ So that's why Mikami from Death Note spurted all that blood when he stabbed himself with a pen!

_Shino:_ A pen?

_JP:_ Yup, that's why!

_madjack89:_ What about the Law of Militaristic Unreliability! That goes along with Digimon quite nicely!

_JP:_ And let's not forget the all-important Law of Juvenile Intellectuality!

_Kouji:_ I'm almost afraid to ask, but what the hell is that?

_madjack89:_ It's a law that says "Children are smarter than adults. And almost always twice as annoying."

_Kouji and Shino:_ …

_Hotaru:_ You know, that's about right, actually.

_JP:_ It sure is.

_Dai:_ Hee!

_madjack89:_ Okay guys, time for reviews!

_garnettfox:_ I'm glad someone else likes Witchmon as much as me (I love her to death)! Aw, Boltmon sounds cute! And Darkkittymon still sounds adorable too! And you're not the only one with your characters chatting in your head. (_Dai:_ Hee hee!) Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_GoldenDragon326:_ Hotaru = Mercurymon + much cooler than Mercurymon originally was because he got on my nerves! Oh, that's right! I can do Momentai with Terriermon! Thanks for reminding me! And the thing with Bakumon is that he was voiced by Crispin Freeman, just like our little Kouichi was (I just like making Crispin Freeman references)! Okay, thanks for reviewing, and for the paper towels!

_hazeleyedharmony:_ You make a valid point. In fact…Shino! (_Shino:_ What?) Does it hurt firing leaves out your nose? (_Shino:_ …Shut up, Madjack.) Okay, never mind!

part 1: Yeah, probably not.

part 2: Yeah, probably not (again).

intermission: _bows_ Thank you, thank you!

rest: We all need a break sometimes.

**Crispin Freeman!**

No, our dear Chief never can catch a break (with me lol). Thank you very much for reviewing!

_apapa155:_ Hi Guilmon! And I enjoyed that with Taki and Kouji too, but…I don't know where I would fit it in! Of course, even after I'm done with the main plot of this story, I'm probably still gonna continue it (because I love it so much)! So it may happen then! And hello Love! Okay, thanks for reviewing!

_Ashka-chan:_ Thank you very much! I do try!

_Dawn of Glory:_ Heh, yeah, I am pretty mean to them, aren't I? (_Kouji:_ You're just figuring this out now?!) Oh well, it makes the story more interesting! Thanks for reviewing!

_LadyWarGreymon:_ It's okay, computer troubles happen. I'll get to Shinya in the future (I didn't forget about him). Technically, Dai didn't defeat Duskmon, Duskmon just kind of left. And he wasn't really trying (heh)! I'm probably not gonna have Hotaru Beast Spirit Evolve just because I can't find a practical use for his spirit, but Kira should be very interesting! Alright, thanks for reviewing!

_shadica:_ Hm, that's an interesting guess. We'll have to see if you're right! Thanks for the review!

_Nightmare soldier:_ I know how that is (with homework). Yes, Beast Spirits are muy interesante! Well, thank you for reviewing, mi amiga (lol)!

_beybladeingninjaprincess:_ You hear that, Kouji? You still get to be in my story! Hooray! (_Kouji:_ For the love of god…) Wow, Dai beating people up! THAT'S an interesting mental picture (lol). But yeah, Zoe's buttin' in on the twins a little, but maybe Kouji just needs to learn to share! (_Kouji:_ Shut up!) But not even Zoe could break up freaky telekinetic twin powers! Alright, thanks for the review!

_madjack89:_ Alright, time for chap—

_Kouji:_ Wait a minute!

_madjack89:_ What?

_Kouji:_ Where's Kouichi?

_Shino:_ Zoe's not here either.

_Tommy:_ And Takuya and Kira are gone.

_madjack89:_ Hm…I don't really know where they are! I guess they'll show up by the end commentary!

_Kouji:_ They better.

_madjack89: _Yeah, whatever Kouji. Alright, time for chapter eight, which marks the beginning of the saga revolving around Kira and Taki! Woot!

--

"You've got to be kidding me," JP muttered, staring at the small town-like setup ahead of him.

"Goody, it's THIS place again," Kouji grumbled.

"Guys, this place wasn't that bad at all," Zoe said. "Except for maybe the part with Takuya's Beast Spirit," she added quietly.

"No, that wasn't very nice at all," Bokomon said, agreeing with Zoe's statement.

Witchmon turned and smirked at the confused faces of the other five children. "Guys, prepare yourselves, for we are about to enter the Fortune Telling Village!" she proclaimed, lifting her arms above her head.

In front of the gang, in a grassy clearing, stood a group of multi-colored tents. Various Digimon were gathered around these tents, either waiting to have their fortune told or telling another Digimon's fortune.

"Oh yeah, this is the place where Takuya got his Beast Spirit, right?" Shino asked.

"Yeah, I sure did," Takuya muttered, glancing uncomfortably down at the ground.

Everyone stared at Takuya sympathetically, not quite knowing what to say. Suddenly, Kira cried, "Oh, c'mon guys!"

She swung her arm around Takuya's shoulders as she continued. "This place is supposed to be a fortune telling village! Don't even try telling me that having your fortune told isn't fun! How about we concentrate more on gaining wisdom and crap about the future instead of thinking about the past?"

After a brief pause, Bokomon said, "I believe Kira is correct. We could use just as much wisdom now as we did the last time we were here."

"Then to Shamanmon we go," JP said, grinning.

The others nodded, following JP down the hill and toward the village. However, Takuya grabbed Kira's sleeve as she was about to follow after the rest of the gang, holding her back.

Kira turned and stared quizzically at Takuya. "What's up, Taki?" she asked curiously.

"Well," Takuya began, smiling lopsidedly. "Just…thank you, Kira. You were trying to get everyone's attention off what happened here before, including mine. So…thank you."

Kira smirked, amused by Takuya's awkward little smile. "Sure thing, Taki," she said, patting him reassuringly on the back. "That's just what us girlfriends do."

"Right," Takuya agreed, chuckling. Then he held out his arm and said, "So, we're off to see the Wizard?"

Kira's smile grew mischievous as she linked her arm with Takuya's, saying, "The wonderful Wizard of Oz."

Then they both skipped down the hill after their friends, singing as they went.

--

The leaves of a bush parted slightly as a black cat poked its head through, staring curiously at the mass of tents in front of it.

"The Fortune Telling Village, huh?" it said to itself, stepping lightly out of the bush. "Hm…this gives me an idea."

Suddenly the black cat grew, its shape bulging out and transforming almost grotesquely. After about four seconds of this, a Labramon stood in place of the black cat.

It chuckled, saying, "Still stealing Digimon from Tamers, huh Madjack?" (Shut up, you!)

"Oh well," the Labramon continued, sneaking stealthily up to the back of a tent and lifting up the flap. "This should be a sufficient disguise. Those impertinent little children won't know what hit them."

With that the Labramon ducked into the tent, disappearing from sight.

--

"Shamanmon!" Bokomon called out the fortune teller's name as the gang entered the stone tower in which he lived. But when everyone looked inside the stone structure, they realized that Shamanmon wasn't there.

"Well, what do you think we should do now?" JP asked, glancing at the others.

"He's probably just off taking a break. Shamanmon's council is very sought after," Bokomon said. "But I suppose we could come back later and make sure he's alright."

"Basically we're making sure Ilsemon hasn't gotten to him, right?" Witchmon asked, already knowing the answer would be yes.

Everyone looked around the big empty room one last time and then closed the door to Shamanmon's home.

"So what shall we do to pass the time while we wait?" Zoe asked everyone.

"Duh! Fortune telling!" Takuya and Kira said at the same time, grinning.

"Considering that all these guys suck," JP muttered, pointing down the steps toward the large mass of tents below.

"I've never bought much into fortune telling, anyway," Kouichi added, glancing at his brother. "Right Kouji?"

"Actually, I think that some fortune tellers aren't complete phonies," Kouji replied in a slightly annoyed tone.

Kouichi flinched. "Sorry," he muttered, "I just thought…"

"That I didn't think much of them either," Kouji said, finishing his brother's sentence. "Well, I didn't until we came here the first time."

"Yeah, Shamanmon was really good. He predicted everything that happened after we went to see him," Tommy said.

"Actually…" Kouji began.

"Wow, a real live fortune teller," Dai said, cutting off Kouji's statement. "This is gonna call for a group picture!"

"Yeah, but before that we might as well look around a little bit, even if all these guys are complete fakes," Takuya said, heading down the steps and toward the tents below.

--

"Excuse me, but would you four be interested in having your palms read?" asked a large, dog-like Digimon, pointing at Takuya, Kira, Zoe, and Kouichi.

The gang turned, staring at the big pink-eared Digimon standing next to a large blue tent. "Just step in here and I'll read your fortune, no charge," the Digimon continued, smiling as he lifted the tent flap.

"Um, I guess we could," Takuya said, glancing at the other three. "What do you guys think?"

"Sounds like fun," Kira said.

"Why not," Zoe said, while Kouichi shrugged, indicating he didn't really care either way.

"Alright, show us what you got," Takuya said to the dog Digimon.

As the four teens entered the tent, JP exclaimed, "Hey, wait a minute! Why don't any of us get our palms read?"

"I'm sorry; couples only," the Digimon said before entering the tent after the others.

"Ripoff," JP grumbled, glaring at the blue tent irritably.

"Well, we can always find some other Digimon to tell our fortunes," Hotaru said, looking around at the many tents scattered through the valley.

"Yeah, I know," JP agreed, shoulders slumping. "It's just this kind of crap that makes me miss Tomoyo."

The others stared sympathetically at JP while Shino suddenly glanced left and right, looking confused. "Um, where did Kouji go, guys?" he asked.

Everyone else looked around and realized that Kouji was nowhere to be seen.

--

Kouji made his way slowly through the crowds of Digimon around him, trying to avoid large horns and fangs where necessary. He glanced at each tent as he passed, trying to find the one he wanted.

_Where are you?_ he thought irritably, shoving his way roughly past an Agumon standing in his way.

"Hey, watch it buddy!" the Agumon growled, staring at Kouji.

Kouji stopped for a moment, turning his head and glaring at Agumon. "I really don't think you want to mess with me right now," Kouji said threateningly, holding up his D-Tector.

The Agumon backed up a few paces, looking nervous. "Whoa, easy there. This doesn't need to resort to violence."

Kouji glared at the Agumon a moment longer before taking a deep breath and calming himself down. "Fine," he said quickly, turning and making his way through the crowd again, leaving the Agumon behind him.

Kouji continued to dodge through the crowd of Digimon until he came to an opening near the edge of the cluster of tents. He stood still for a moment, staring at the ground guiltily.

_First I snap at Kouichi, and now I'm picking fights with random Digimon,_ he thought, clenching his fist in frustration. _Why can't I freaking control myself?_

He thought this, but he already knew the answer. He wanted Kouichi to himself, like it had been before. He didn't want to have to share him with Zoe, even though he knew how much they cared about each other.

_Like me and Seiko_. He cringed, trying to keep his memories from overwhelming him. _And then that dream_, he thought, remembering the odd dream he'd had. _Who are you?_

"Why is all of this happening to me?" Kouji muttered, feeling slightly depressed.

"Back again, are you?" Kouji jumped, recognizing the Digimon that stood in front of him. It was shorter than Kouji and basically resembled a plant-like green reptilian creature with a pink and yellow flower on its head.

It held out its viney arm as it said, "Would you like me to tell your fortune again?"

Kouji nodded slowly, taking the Digimon's arm. "I think I need some wisdom now more than ever, Palmon."

--

"Alright, how does this little palm reading thingy work?" Kira asked, staring across the small round table in the middle of the tent.

The Digimon seated across the table smiled pleasantly, holding out its clawed paw. "Give me your hand," it said.

Kira glanced slightly nervously at the others, then rested her hand on the Digimon's paw. It stared intently at her hand for a moment, and then carefully turned it palm side up.

"Hm," the Digimon murmured, tracing the lines of Kira's palm gently with its claw.

Takuya and Kira stared anxiously at each other, wondering what this Digimon would say. Finally, it laid Kira's hand onto the table, looking thoughtfully at her.

After about a minute of silence, Kira said, "So…what's your analysis?"

The fortune teller sighed. "You've had a difficult past and, unfortunately, your future doesn't look much brighter."

"Well, that's good news," Takuya muttered, chuckling.

"Next he'll tell me my future's full of depression and despair that fades into a bleak nothingness," Kouichi said under his breath, rolling his eyes.

The dog-like Digimon glared at the two boys, quickly shutting them up. "As I was saying, your future hides a betrayal from someone you hold dear, and you can do nothing to prevent it. Also, jealousy lies in your path, as you find that your beloved has more than friendly feelings for another."

"My beloved? You mean Taki?" Kira asked slowly, pointing at Takuya with her free hand.

The Digimon nodded, staring intently at Takuya. "What do you have to say?" it asked.

"I say that's complete crap," Takuya answered angrily, glaring at the Digimon. "What the hell makes you think I would betray Kira like that?"

"I didn't say that you betrayed her, I said you had feelings for another," the Digimon said calmly.

"Had!" Takuya yelled.

"Had?" Kira echoed in a confused voice. "What do you mean had?"

Takuya paused, suddenly looking nervous. "Well, you see…I kinda had…it was sorta…"

"Kira, we didn't tell you before, but…well…" Zoe said, helping Takuya. "Takuya had feelings for me at one point."

Kira's eyes grew wider as she stared at Zoe and then at Takuya. "You mean you were a Zoe drone too?!" she cried.

"I was a what?" Takuya asked, cocking his head.

"It's what I call anyone that falls in love with Zoe, which incidentally happens a lot," Kira explained, glancing sheepishly at her friend.

Zoe glared back, saying, "You know I don't like it when you call people that. It makes me feel like whore!"

"You're not a whore. Guys are just attracted to your prettiness," Kira said. "But luckily now you have Chief to kick their collective asses!"

"I guess," Kouichi muttered, sighing at Kira's impulsiveness.

"Getting back to the subject," Zoe began, regaining Kira and Takuya's attention. "Yes, Takuya liked me for a while. He told me later that it started in the Digital World, but I didn't feel the same way about him, so nothing happened between us."

"So you guys never saw each other, like, SAW each other?" Kira asked anxiously.

"No, Kira," Zoe said firmly.

"She's telling the truth, Kira," Kouichi added gently. "In case you're forgetting, I was there, so I know for a fact that nothing at all happened."

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you," Takuya suddenly said, covering his bright red face with his hand. "I just didn't want you to be jealous or anything. But I seriously don't have anything going on with Zoe, okay?"

_He's really embarrassed by this_, Kira thought, staring thoughtfully at her boyfriend's blush. She sighed, looking up and smiling brightly at Takuya. "When have you ever given me a reason not to trust you, Taki?"

Takuya took his hand away from his face, showing just how much he was blushing. The red began to fade from his face as he smiled back at Kira. "Thank you, Kira!" he said happily, wrapping his arms around his girlfriend.

Kira paused, then hugged Takuya back, smirking at the goofy expression he'd had. _I'll just have to trust him. I mean, it's not like he's with Zoe now, he's with me!_

But as soon as Kira thought this she met the eye of the Digimon fortune teller sitting across the tent from her. It stared blankly at her for a moment, then mouthed, "Don't trust him."

"Aw, that was really cute!" Zoe cooed, grinning at her two friends.

"It was cute," Kouichi added, smiling.

Takuya released Kira, turning and rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "Y'know, it probably isn't a compliment to call a guy cute."

"People call Dai cute all the time," Zoe retorted.

"Yeah, but that's Dai," Kouichi said, chuckling.

As the others bickered, Kira stared down at her lap, feeling hurt and confused. _But Taki wouldn't betray me…he definitely wouldn't lie to me! Then again, he still won't tell me about Chief and Duskmon, and he and Zoe are always bickering with each other like they're an old married couple_. Kira shook her head, looking on at her three friends. She smiled, pushing away her confusing thoughts for the moment. _I don't need to worry about this. I know that Taki cares about me, and it'll take a lot more than a stupid fortune to convince me otherwise!_

The fortune telling Digimon's face rose in a slightly malicious grin as it stared at the four children, particularly Kira. _The seeds of distrust have been planted_, it thought. _Now they just need time and nutrients to grow, and luckily, I'm an excellent gardener!_

--

_madjack89:_ Howdy ho, yo! Okay, originally, I was gonna stop the chapter here, but because my internet randomly died on me and I couldn't get the chapter up until now, I decided to add an extra segment to it! I'm just telling you this to let you know how much I love you guys! Okay, on to the extra segment!

--

Kouji sat quietly in Palmon's green tent, staring dully at his hands. _Why did I even come here?_ he began to wonder, his darker thoughts weighing him down. _Am I expecting her to magically make my problems go away with a few bits of advice? Hell, I don't even know for sure if she really is a real fortune teller!_

Kouji thought this, but he already knew for sure that this Palmon was the real deal. After all, she had predicted Kouichi's appearance just by looking at Kouji once, along with Lucemon's eventual arrival and Kouichi's eventual sacrifice.

"Here's a drink!" Palmon was suddenly standing right in front of Kouji, causing him to jump. He glanced warily at the crude-looking cup Palmon held in her vine-covered hand.

"Uh, not to sound rude or anything, but I've learned from experience to never stick anything in your mouth in the Digital World without knowing what it is," Kouji said, still staring at the liquid-filled cup. "And that includes drinks."

Palmon looked at the cup for a moment, then started laughing. "Ha, that's actually a pretty good philosophy to carry around with you! But this isn't anything peculiar by human standards. It's just tea."

"Well, if it's tea…" Kouji accepted the cup from Palmon, looked at the contents for a moment, and took a tentative sip. He lowered the cup and smirked. "I guess it is just tea. I'm sorry."

"Nothing to be sorry for," Palmon said, waving off Kouji's apology. "It would actually be wiser to be a bit more cautious these days.

"But anyway," Palmon continued, "you said that you wanted to have your fortune told by me again, right?"

"That's right," Kouji said, staring glumly at the cup in his hand. "I remembered you from the last time I was here. After Kouichi showed up, I had always wanted to come back here and thank you for trying to warn me about him, even if I didn't believe you."

"'Do not fear the dark, for a light shines within. A friend awaits you, screaming your name, yet you cannot hear his cry. His blood shall awaken your full power and defeat the evil which is to come, but do not fret, for he still awaits you, and you shall answer his call in the end,'" Palmon muttered, reciting her message from before.

"The friend I didn't hear was Kouichi," Kouji said quietly. "His 'blood' helped us defeat Lucemon with the power of Susanoomon. And then we managed to save Kouichi, thereby 'answering his call.'" Kouji glanced at Palmon, saying, "You got everything right."

"They don't call me a fortune teller for nothing," Palmon replied, smirking. "So you've returned and wish me to give you an accurate fortune?"

"Yes," Kouji said, bowing his head slightly. "I just don't know what to do anymore. I'm angry and jealous and depressed all at the same time, and I don't know what to do. So, I came to you, hoping that you would help me."

Palmon gently patted Kouji's head, smiling at him. "Are you sure you want to hear what I have to say?"

Kouji took a deep breath. "Yes, even if you don't have any good news for me, I have a feeling I need to hear this."

"Very well," Palmon said, taking a step back from Kouji. "But before I tell you, let me say this: don't let your anxieties weigh you down like this. Remember to look on the bright side of things."

Kouji nodded stiffly, getting more and more nervous about what Palmon would say.

Palmon slowly closed her eyes, then began speaking. "You shall find a lost soul that yearns for you, but knows not your name. Darkness licks at the heels of the one that has already found the light, but is shunned by the light all the same. But the joining of the light and the dark cannot save you now, for it will only bring greater pain to all. The only way to prevent his rising is to protect the flame from blowing out. And always remember: a light shines in the darkness."

Kouji was silent, seeing whether Palmon would continue. When she didn't, he said, "Wow, that was even more cryptic than your last prediction. I couldn't really tell what you meant by any of it, except maybe the part about the flame blowing out."

Suddenly Kouji's eyes widened as a horrible realization struck him. "Takuya represents flame, and if you blow a flame out, you're basically killing it."

Kouji slowly turned his gaze to Palmon, who looked guiltily back at him. "Is that what you meant? That Takuya is destined to…die?"

"Not quite," Palmon said. "You see, according to what I saw, the only way to prevent 'his' rising is to save your friend from that fate, so hope isn't completely lost."

"When you said 'his' rising, you meant Lucemon, didn't you?" Kouji asked, not waiting for an answer before continuing. "Then you're trying to say that if Takuya…if you're prophecy is fulfilled, then there is nothing we can do to stop Lucemon?"

Palmon paused before responding. "I believe so."

--

"Argh!" Shamanmon cried, awakening from his trance with a start. As he got shakily to his feet, all the images he had witnessed flashed through his mind.

So many Digimon struck down…death was prevalent everywhere…the legendary warriors…no, there was nothing they could do…they had been engulfed in darkness already…Lucemon and his demonic sister stepping into the human world…more death…the ten warriors' families first…a curly haired human girl…the ground around her body spattered with blood…a young human girl crying…Lucemon reaching around her neck…choking away her life…slipping…slipping…

Shamanmon shook his head, coming back to his senses. This could be prevented, if he could just warn the children in time.

Shamanmon ran through the trees as quickly as he could, moving farther and farther away from his pond. His cool, tranquil, meditative pond.

"It will not remain that way if I do not hurry," he said to himself, continuing to run while the branches and leaves of the trees engulfed him in their depths.

--

_Takuya:_ Holy crap, we are seriously screwed this time, aren't we?

_madjack89:_ Oh, there you are, Taki! Where'd you guys go, anyway?

_Zoe:_ We used our get out of the beginning commentary free cards.

_madjack89:_ …I never gave you guys anything like that.

_Kira:_ Fine, we skipped, okay? And what the crap are you gonna do to me, Madjack? I thought we were buddies!

_Takuya and Kouji:_ Welcome to our world.

_madjack89:_ Sorry Kira! It'll turn out right in the end, I promise!

_Dai:_ Oh Madjack!

_madjack89:_ Yes Dai?

_Dai:_ Are you forgetting what holiday just passed us by?

_madjack89:_ Oh yeah, Easter!

_Dai:_ Yay Easter!

_Hotaru:_ You just want chocolate, don't you?

_Dai:_ Yay chocolate!

_Shino:_ Please let it be sugar-free.

_madjack89:_ Don't worry, Shino, I definitely would not get Dai sugary chocolate for Easter.

_Shino:_ Thank god…

_Dai:_ Yay, Madjack got us all Easter baskets! You're awesome, Madjack!

_madjack89:_ Aw, thank you, Dai!

_JP:_ So, where are these alleged baskets?

_madjack89:_ Hold your horses, JP. Just let me pass them out! _passes out baskets_

_Dai: gorges on SUGAR-FREE chocolate_

_Takuya:_ _takes out something_ What is this?

_madjack89:_ That would be the necklace I got you, Taki. See how it's got a little flame pendant on it?

_Kouji:_ There's one in my basket, too.

_madjack89:_ Yup, I got you all necklaces as a little thank you gift for you guys putting up with me all this time! You're welcome!

_Zoe:_ Oh, these are really nice! I'm definitely gonna wear mine from now on!

_Hotaru:_ Thanks.

_Shino:_ Thank you.

_Dai: still gorging on chocolate_

_Kouichi:_ Thank you, Madjack. And you really aren't that bad.

_Kira:_ Despite this last chapter, I agree with Chief. And this necklace is kickass!

_Tommy:_ Thank you!

_JP:_ Not bad, I must say.

_Takuya and Kouji:_ …Thanks.

_madjack89:_ Oh, you guys rock! I even got Takuya and Kouji to thank me!

_Takuya and Kouji: _Humph.

_madjack89:_ Okay, happy belated Easter and see you in chapter nine!

_Dai:_ _my gosh, he's STILL gorging on chocolate!_


	9. Ch 9: Almost Sweet

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing- Chapter 9: Almost Sweet**

_Takuya:_ And I'll leave my hat to…eh, I'll give it to you, Chief. You seem to like hats.

_Kouichi:_ I do?

_Kouji:_ Um, Takuya, what are you doing?

_Takuya:_ Kouji, perfect timing! Let me ask you a question: out of all the worldly possessions I own, what would you most like to have?

_Kouji:_ Uh…Kouichi, what is he talking about?

_Kouichi:_ Well, you see, after that last chapter, Takuya realized that his life hung on a very delicate string, so he decided to write up his will now to get a head start on things. He asked me to help him by writing everything down and keeping his will in a safe place.

_Takuya:_ You are such a great guy, Chief! _hugs_

_Kouichi: sigh_ Takuya, you've told me that at least ten times now.

_Takuya:_ But you are!

_Kouji:_ Takuya, you're not gonna die.

_Takuya:_ Not according to that prophecy of Palmon's!

_Kouji:_ No, I mean I'm not letting you die. End of story.

_Takuya: _…You're a great guy, too! _hugs Kouji_

_Kouji: _Takuya, get off of me!

_Kouichi:_ _sigh_ Where's Madjack when you need her?

_madjack89:_ Howdy guys! Boy, you three sure are early for the commentary today. You even beat me!

_Kouichi:_ Madjack, please tell Takuya that you wouldn't ever let him die and that the whole prophecy thing was just one of those plot devices that keeps the readers hooked.

_madjack89:_ Um…is Takuya going through some crisis I'm not aware of?

_Takuya:_ Why are you killing me off?! I've been a good character, haven't I? Sure, I complained a little bit, but Kouji complained way more than me, and you're keeping him!

_madjack89:_ Oh, I see what's going on.

_Kouji:_ Please get off of me, Takuya!

_Kouichi:_ Just tell him you're not killing any of us off, Madjack.

_madjack89:_ Um…

_Kouji:_ Get…off…of…me…Takuya.

_madjack89:_ Well…I can't exactly say truthfully that no one is going to be killed off.

_Kouichi:_ …What?

_Kouji:_ Takuya, get the hell off me!

_Kira:_ Taki, what are you doing to pretty boy?

_Takuya:_ Kira! _runs over and hugs Kira_

_Kouji:_ I can't believe I'm about to say this, but I'm glad you're here, Kira.

_Kira:_ Okay…?

_Takuya: snuggles against Kira_

_Zoe:_ Kouichi, what is going on?

_Kouichi:_ I don't even know anymore…

_madjack89:_ Just forget I said anything, Chief. Alright, time for reviews!

_agoodcupoftea:_ Yeah, pretty much majorly screwed. I liked writing the scene with Palmon, so I'm glad you enjoyed reading it! Thanks for the review!

_garnettfox:_ Yeah, that Dai (he conked out for five hours after he ate all that chocolate). Don't worry, Dragramon, your time is coming! Just let me get through this saga, and then you'll be in the story! Good luck with that novel, garnett, and thanks for reviewing!

_GoldenDragon326:_ Go Wizard of Oz! (lol) Actually no, that movie creeped me out, but I like the musical Wicked, so yeah! Takuya's importance rose approximately five points! (_Takuya:_ Does that mean you're not killing me off?) I never said that! (_Takuya:_ Aw…) And we'll just have to wait and see whether that prophecy involves Seiko or not, won't we? Alright, thanks for reviewing (and yes, they'll wear their pendants during the story so we can identify their bodies). (_Everyone:_ What?!) Kidding!

_apapa155:_ Yay presents! (_Dai:_ More chocolate! _gorges_) (_Kouichi:_ Ha ha, very funny.) (_Zoe:_ Aw, thank you!) (_Kira:_ Thanks a bunch!) (_Tommy:_ …It's not that big…) (_Shino and Hotaru:_ Thanks.) (_Kouji:_ Hm…this could be very useful.) (_Takuya:_ Thank god, you got me something for self defense!) Fine, I'll take the comic, since Taki's so preoccupied. Thank you Love and Shadow and apapa155 and Eva!

_Dawn of Glory:_ Ha, nice one Dawn! You too, Sakura! (_Kouji:_ Why the hell do all authors feel the need to torture me?) It's called fanfiction, Kouji! (_Kouji:_ …Touché.) Hm, that chocolate fudge will definitely come in handy. But anyway, thanks for the compliment on my prophecy writing! This was actually my favorite chapter so far because of that! And Labramon is from one of the Tamers movies. I can't remember which one, I just remember watching it once (on Toon Disney) and seeing Labramon, so there you go! Alright, thanks for the review!

_fg1fg:_ (_Kouji:_ You are my new best friend.) Fine, fine, I'll let you all have ONE get out of the commentary free card, but that's it! But of course Chief will stay with me! (_Kouichi:_ I only left because Zoe left, anyway.) Aw, why would you want Taki to die? Taki's awesome! But then again, I did want Lucemon back… (_Takuya:_ I knew it!) Oh well, we'll see what happens! Thanks for the review!

_hazeleyedharmony:_ You call this review short? (lol)

~Indeed. Like how Pokemon made me think that anyone could survive falling off a bridge into rushing water.

~I like it too, so it's not too creepy!

~Eh, maybe he's just learned to deal with them (or not).

~Everyone seemed to like these prophecies! Thank you!

~You can try to decipher all you want, but I'm still not telling you what happens! You'll find out in time whether you were right or not.

~Wow, that gave me an interesting mental picture! (lol)

Thank you for the review!

_madjack89:_ Okay, it is time for chapter nine of F2R! Woohoo! And by the way, Taki, stop glomping Kira. It looks awkward.

_JP:_ Hey guys, sorry me and Tommy are late, but…whoa, Takuya, whoa!

_Tommy:_ What is it…Takuya?!

_JP:_ Shield your eyes, kid!

_madjack89:_ Chapter time!

--

Later, as the sun began to set, the gang, minus the two couples and Kouji, trudged through the mass of fortune teller tents, looking for their missing companions.

"Zoe, Taki, Chief, Kira, where the heck are you guys?!" JP called, checking behind a small green tent for his friends.

"You left out Kouji," Shino said, glancing at JP.

"Yes, I did," JP replied, searching behind another tent. "But then again, he's the one that ran off today, so if he gets lost, I say let him find us on his own."

"Found you." JP jumped, recognizing the voice behind him as Kouji's.

JP slowly turned his head, smiling nervously at a smug-looking Kouji. "Oh, hey there, Kouji. What've you been up to on this fine day?"

Kouji shrugged, trying to act nonchalant. "I just felt like taking a little walk by myself." _Better not tell them about this prophecy thing yet. No need to scare anyone, especially Takuya._

Suddenly, something occurred to Kouji. "Um, where's Takuya, guys?" he asked, looking around for his missing friend. "And for that matter, where are Kouichi, Zoe, and Kira?"

"What, she's not just Yankee now?" Hotaru asked, chuckling.

"I'm still not completely clear on what this whole 'Yankee' thing is about," Bokomon muttered.

"I'm still not completely clear about anything," Neemon added listlessly.

"From what I understand, it's kinda like an underground army or group of mercenaries," Witchmon said, glancing at Hotaru. "Good thing we have two on our side!"

The others sweatdropped, flabbergasted (I love that word!) by Witchmon's definition.

"Not…quite," Hotaru said slowly.

"Hey guys, what're we sweatdropping about?" Kira suddenly popped up behind Shino, causing him to jump.

"Howdy there, everybody!" Takuya soon appeared next to his girlfriend, grinning. "Just wait until you hear what that fortune teller told Kouichi!"

"Why did you have to sneak up on me?" Shino muttered, glaring at Takuya and Kira.

"Because you're easy to startle," Kira said, smiling. "But that's beside the point! Taki's right, you guys gotta hear this fortune Chief got!"

"I can only imagine what a fortune teller would tell Kouichi," JP said, rolling his eyes. "Something about death and doom and despair?"

"Not even close," Zoe replied, suddenly standing beside JP with a sullen looking Kouichi to her right.

"That fortune teller can go screw himself," Kouichi muttered angrily, crossing his arms.

"Geez, what'd he say?" JP asked, surprised by Kouichi's uncharacteristic sullenness.

"Well, you see…" Zoe began.

"He said that Kouichi should beware stairs!" Takuya and Kira blurted at the same time. They then burst into laughter, followed quickly by Witchmon, JP and Dai. Tommy, Bokomon and Shino chuckled, while Hotaru merely smiled. Neemon was staring at a butterfly(mon).

"I swear to god…" Kouichi mumbled, covering his face with his hand.

"Well, you are kind of clumsy, and it's not like you haven't tripped down stairs before," Kouji said, smirking.

Kouichi's face turned bright red, feeling completely embarrassed at this point. Zoe placed a hand on his shoulder and said, "Oh, c'mon Kouichi, there are plenty of clumsy people out in the world. I mean, look at Madjack! She once tripped on air. Air!" (I did.)

"Somehow, that really doesn't make me feel better," Kouichi said. (Humph!) Then he added quietly to Zoe, "But thanks anyway."

Zoe smiled back at him brightly. "You're welcome."

Kouji watched their exchange while the others continued to joke about Kouichi. For a moment, his thoughts began to darken. Then he remembered what Palmon had said: _Don't let your anxieties weigh you down like this. Remember to look on the bright side of things._

He took a deep breath, calming himself down. _I don't need to be acting all jealous right now. I have more important things to deal with._

He glanced over at Takuya, who was joking and laughing happily with everyone else, unaware of his fate.

Kouji clenched his fist, feeling determined. _That won't happen to you, Takuya,_ he thought. _You won't die! Even if I have to sacrifice myself in your place, I won't let that happen to you._ _I swear it!_

--

Awhile later, after the sun had set, the gang sat around their small fire located on the fringe of the woods. As they watched the fortune teller Digimon retreat into their tents for the night, a conversation ensued.

"So, what were you guys up to all day?" Zoe asked JP curiously.

"Well," he began, taking another bite of his chocolate bar, "that drunken Gekomon kept following us around and trying to get us to give him money for booze. But then we unleashed Dai on him, and he ran away."

"I haven't had to get that annoying in a while! I even took his picture!" Dai added, grinning.

"Wait a second," Kouji said, joining the conversation. "I don't recall that Gekomon being drunk in any way, shape, or form."

"That's what the dubbing company WANTS you to think," JP said ominously.

"Great, now they're invading our minds," Kouji muttered.

"Speaking of dubbing edits, why is it not okay for Zoe to be wearing a skimpy bikini, but it is okay for her to be wearing pretty much nothing at all when she's Kazemon and Zephyrmon?" Witchmon asked.

"What?" Zoe exclaimed, blushing slightly. "I'm wearing things as Kazemon and Zephyrmon!"

"Yes, things that barely manage to cover your breasts and…other girly parts," Witchmon retorted.

While the debate continued, Kira stared listlessly at the fire, still pondering what the fortune telling Labramon had said to her. _My beloved having more than friendly feelings for another…_

She glanced up, searching the clearing for Takuya. Her eyes widened when she realized that he wasn't where he had been a moment ago. "Where did he…?"

"What's bugging you, Kira?" Kira turned, startled by Takuya's sudden appearance to her left.

She looked down, not wanting to meet his eyes. "Takuya…" she began.

"Oh boy, this can't be good. You called me Takuya instead of Taki," Takuya interrupted, staring curiously at Kira.

"Well, you're probably gonna think this sounds completely ridiculous, but…I was thinking about what that fortune teller said to us earlier and, I don't know…" Kira explained hesitantly.

Takuya's expression grew somber as he said, "Do you really not trust me, Kira?"

This statement brought back the memory of what the fortune teller had mouthed to Kira. _Don't trust him._

_No!_ Kira thought stubbornly, pitying the pained expression on her boyfriend's face. _Look how upset he is! There's no way this is some sort of act. It's too real!_

"That's not it," Kira said out loud. "Maybe I'm just…jealous."

"Jealous?" Takuya asked quizzically. "Of what?"

Kira smirked, staring across the fire at the hot debate still going on between her friends. "Zoe doesn't have problems keeping friends, or making friends, for that matter. The only thing keeping her from being the popular person she was meant to be is the fact that every girl in school seems to be too blind to see past her differences from everyone else. They use the fact that she happens to be blonde and beautiful against her.

"But here I am, just your average girl, give or take a few violent tendencies here and there, and I can't keep one damn friend until I meet you guys, and I know that I was forced on you anyway," Kira continued, staring at the flickering tendrils of the fire. "I just wish sometimes that I could be more like Zoe. Then maybe you guys would have a friend, or girlfriend, to be proud of, because I'm just…"

"Kira," Takuya said quickly, causing Kira to look up. She instantly noticed the serious tone of Takuya's voice, the tone he seldom liked to use.

"Maybe you were forced on us," Takuya continued, staring at Kira intently. "Maybe, if you didn't get Ranamon's spirit, we never would have met. Maybe if Kouichi hadn't shown up, I'd be with Zoe. Maybe, maybe, maybe; there are too many maybes in what you're saying. Maybes aren't reliable, they only weigh people down.

"Yeah, I liked Zoe. Heck, I might have really loved her. But I'm not with Zoe now, I'm with you." Takuya's expression softened as he said, "I love you, Kira. I really, truly do. Do you believe me when I say that I would never dream of being with anyone else but you?"

"Yes," Kira said, knowing that she really meant it. She trusted Takuya and believed in him more than she had anyone else in her entire life.

Takuya's expression instantly changed to one of complete relief. "Thank you," he said, smiling.

Kira was about to reply when Takuya's expression changed again to something Kira couldn't describe. Her heart began to beat faster as Takuya leaned closer to her, and…

"Takuya, Kira, I need your opinion on this!" Takuya and Kira turned quickly at the sound of Zoe's voice across the fire.

"Guys, please tell Witchmon that she is wrong!" Zoe continued, pointing accusingly at Witchmon.

"If I am wrong, then why do I have these guys on my side?" Witchmon retorted, gesturing to Dai, Hotaru, and Neemon.

"You've got Neemon on your side!" Zoe cried angrily.

"Well you don't have Kouichi!" Witchmon replied smugly.

"I already told you, I'm Switzerland," Kouichi mumbled, covering his bright red face with his hands.

"Yeah, me too," Shino added, also hiding his blush.

"I…don't think I should answer this question," Tommy said, smiling uncomfortably.

"What's the question, Zoe?" Takuya asked.

"Do my boobs stick out too much when I'm Kazemon and Zephyrmon?" Zoe asked.

Both Takuya and Kira's eyes widened at this question. "You know they do," Witchmon said. "Bokomon, pretty boy, and JP are just sucking up."

"Pretty much," JP said, agreeing. "But it feels so much better to suck up, right Bokomon?"

"I am not sucking up, I merely agree with Zoe," Bokomon replied hotly.

"I do not suck up, JP," Kouji added, glaring at JP. "That's your job."

"Uh, can I go be in Switzerland?" Takuya asked, glancing uncomfortably at Kira.

"Taki, it's fine. Zoe just gets like this sometimes. She's stubborn, so if you don't agree with her, this could take awhile," Kira said, grinning at Takuya. "Though I may just join Switzerland myself."

Takuya paused for a second, then nodded. "Right," he said quietly before getting up and joining Zoe's side of the debate.

"Yes! You lose, Witchmon!" Zoe declared triumphantly.

"How did we get into this conversation, anyway?" JP suddenly asked.

"How do we get into any of our conversations?" Kouji replied.

As yet another useless conversation ensued, Kira began to think more about what had just occurred between herself and Takuya. The more that she thought about it, the more it seemed like an actual possibility.

Takuya had almost kissed her.

--

"Damn it, that kid works fast!" the black cat muttered to itself, glaring at Takuya as he got up and walked to the far side of the clearing, leaving Kira far from suspicious about him.

The cat's tail twitched in annoyance as it skulked back into the trees. "I need to do something fast, or my plan will fail."

Suddenly, a thought popped into its head. Something that would no doubt turn Kira against Takuya, Zoe, and all the legendary warriors. The cat chuckled darkly.

"Watch out, little Kira, for your worst fears are about to come true."

--

The next day the gang checked Shamanmon's temple again, but still he had not returned.

"Anybody else beginning to get a bad feeling about this?" JP asked, staring at the big empty room in front of them.

"As I said before, he's probably still taking a break," Bokomon said.

"Think we should just leave?" Witchmon asked.

After considering for a moment, Takuya said, "No, we'll give him another day. Besides, it feels good to just take a break from everything."

"Speaking of breaks," Kira said loudly, "how about us girls take a break from you guys today? You know, just me, Zee, and Witchmon? Without men?"

"What, you've gotten sick of us already?" Kouji asked sarcastically.

"Not really," Kira replied, glancing quickly at Takuya. "It's just that sometimes we girls need a break from all your testosterone and…"

"I think they get the point, Kira," Zoe said, cutting Kira off before she got into anything that would make this story rated M instead of T. "And I think it's a good idea. What do you say, Witchmon?"

"Sounds good to me," Witchmon agreed. "We can finally have an intelligent conversation around here."

"We'd better get out of here now, guys. They've already started insulting us," JP muttered, turning and walking away. He was quickly followed by the others except for Takuya, who hesitated.

"Kira," he said quietly. "This doesn't have anything to do with…you know, right?"

Before Kira could respond, Witchmon blurted, "Take a hike, goggle head! As of this moment, this is a guy-free zone!"

Takuya paused, giving Kira one more worried glance before letting himself be shooed away by Witchmon.

Kira watched him go, feeling both relieved and guilty. Zoe noticed Kira's expression and asked gently, "Kira, what's going on? Did you and Takuya have a fight?"

"No," Kira said softly. "It's nothing like that. Actually, there's a reason I wanted the guys gone today. I need…some advice from the both of you. You know…guy advice."

"Oh boy, what did Taki do to you?" Witchmon asked, shaking her head.

"Well, you see," Kira began, feeling slightly uncomfortable. "I think…I think that, last night, Takuya almost…kissed me."

--

"YOU TRIED TO KISS HER?!" the others exclaimed, staring in awe at Takuya.

"Is it really that hard for you guys to believe?!" Takuya said angrily, blushing slightly.

"Yes!" Kouji replied.

"I think what Kouji's trying to say is that this kind of came out of nowhere," Kouichi said quickly.

"Yeah, it came out of nowhere for me, too," Takuya muttered, looking down. "It's just that I couldn't help myself. When I was talking to her last night, I realized something."

"And that would be?" JP asked.

Takuya took a big breath. "I'm really in love with Kira. Not just in some little crush-type way, but really in love with her. And when she said all that stuff about not being good enough for anyone, I just couldn't stand it! I had to make her feel better. I had to let her know that she's special, too."

"She said she wasn't good enough for anyone?" Shino asked, surprised.

Takuya nodded, still looking down. "But now I think I've screwed things up even more. She hasn't talked to me since last night, and now she's come up with some excuse just to get away from me."

"I think you're giving yourself too much credit," Kouji said suddenly, causing everyone to give him quizzical stares. "Maybe Kira did just want a girls' day out, and even if she does feel a little awkward around you right now, you just have to give her some space to figure things out and she'll come around."

"Kouji, did you just give Takuya advice on girls?" Shino asked, wide-eyed.

"The apocalypse is upon us!" JP proclaimed sarcastically.

"Very funny, guys," Kouji grumbled, glaring at the two.

"Thanks for the advice, Kouji," Takuya said, smiling. "It did make me feel better."

Kouji looked slightly surprised for a moment, then he smiled in return. "No problem."

"So now what are you gonna do about Kira?" Tommy asked innocently.

"Maybe he needs to tell her what he just told us," Hotaru suggested.

There was a pause until JP exclaimed, "Now Hotaru is giving advice on women?! What is going on today?!"

"Hotaru's right," Takuya said, suddenly looking determined. "If I want to fix this, the best policy is probably honesty. So later, I'll tell her everything and hope she doesn't kick my ass because of it!"

"Aw, that was almost sweet," Dai said.

--

"So you're saying that all I have to do is tell Taki that I don't think I'm ready for that level of our relationship yet and he won't try to kiss me again?" Kira asked, repeating Zoe and Witchmon's advice.

"Definitely," Witchmon said, nodding.

"Don't worry, he'll understand," Zoe added, smiling at Kira reassuringly. "I know Takuya, and he is not the type to get discouraged by this kind of thing. He'll bounce right back and be his goofy self again before you know it."

Kira forced a smile, muttering, "You sure do seem to know a lot more about Taki than me."

"Huh?" Zoe cocked her head, not having heard what Kira said.

"Nothing," Kira replied quickly, plastering a big grin on her face. "Well girls, now that that's done, we can finally enjoy our boy-free day!"

"Heck yeah we can!" Witchmon exclaimed excitedly, pumping her fist in the air. "God, sometimes you just need a break from those boys!"

"Try living with them for two years," Zoe retorted, chuckling. "I haven't gotten a girls day out in a long while!"

"Then let us begin!" Witchmon said, leading the other two through the mass of brightly colored tents before them.

--

Wizardmon leaned against a tree, enjoying an apple. And…wait, that's all you're doing right now? Don't you have, like, an evil plan or something?

"Nope," Wizardmon replied, taking another bite of apple.

Well that's kind of lame! I mean, you guys are trying to take over the world or something, right?

"Sure," Wizardmon replied nonchalantly.

Sometimes I wonder why I bother giving people a peek at what you guys are doing…

--

_madjack89:_ Sorry it took so long, but here's your new chapter!

_Takuya:_ Woohoo!

_madjack89:_ Yeah, we managed to calm Takuya down after his little freak-out earlier.

_Takuya:_ Whatever will be, will be.

_madjack89:_ That's the spirit! Now it's time to celebrate Mother's Day with a Mother's Day end commentary!

_JP:_ Oh yeah, it is Mother's Day. Good for our mothers.

_Shino:_ Actually, we kind of ran away, so this is probably their worst Mother's Day ever.

_Everyone: _…

_Kouji:_ Oh crap, he's right!

_Zoe:_ What do we do now?!

_Kira and Dai:_ Ho hum, our mothers are dead…

_madjack89:_ Cool it guys, I'll just let you write them all a letter!

_Takuya:_ It's better than nothing.

_Kouichi:_ So what do you think we should say, Kouji?

_Kouji:_ Sorry for running away and freaking you out with the whole Digital World thing?

_Kouichi:_ Sounds good.

_Tommy:_ I'm…so…sorry…Mommy…

_JP:_ Enclosed is a piece of chocolate, with all my love…

_Zoe:_ If you even thought for one second that I ran away with Kouichi…

_Shino:_ Please don't let my disappearance distract you, especially when you're working a defibrillator…

_Takuya:_ At least now you don't have to worry about me and Shinya fighting…

_Hotaru:_ …Love you.

_madjack89:_ Wow, these are gonna be awesome letters.

_JP:_ I believe I detected sarcasm there, Madjack.

_madjack89:_ You did. Alright, happy Mother's Day to all you mothers out there! See ya later!


	10. Ch 10: Kiss

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing- Chapter 10: Kiss**

_madjack89:_ Hi guys! Hey, you know what just occurred to me the other day?

_Kouji:_ That constantly picking on us is probably lowering our self esteem to dangerously low levels?

_madjack89:_ No Kouji. And stop whining.

_Kouji:_ Humph.

_madjack89:_ Anyway, the other day I realized that I've been working on Frontier 02 for almost an entire year now! This story is almost one year old!

_Hotaru:_ …Hooray.

_madjack89:_ Thanks for the attempt at enthusiasm, Taru-kun! Now, how do you guys think we should celebrate this momentous occasion?

_Takuya:_ Wait, you're asking us what we want to do?

_madjack89:_ Well, you guys are the real driving force behind the story. I just sit and write about your antics!

_Dai:_ Oh, oh, I have an idea!

_madjack89:_ What, Dai?

_Dai:_ You remember when we did that entire chapter thing without you in F2HF?

_madjack89:_ Yeah…

_Kouji:_ I think I like where this is going.

_Dai:_ Maybe we could do one of those again! The readers seemed to like it! And it was fun!

_JP:_ Dai has a good point. We had some fun times in that chapter.

_Shino:_ That depends. Do the rest of us get to participate this time?

_Dai:_ Of course!

_Shino:_ Alright, I'm in then.

_JP:_ Sounds good. Anyone else object?

_Everyone else:_ Nope.

_Takuya:_ Okay Madjack, looks like we're doing another commentary chapter to celebrate the one year anniversary!

_madjack89:_ Yay, I get a day off! Alright, with that taken care of, let's get to the reviews!

-

_Aldamonburst:_ Burst, you don't suck, and neither do your stories! But thank you very much for the nice review! (Ryo, you're being very naughty! You and I should have a talk later!)

_apapa155:_ Oh, maybe you did forget JP. I didn't notice either! Heh heh! (_JP:_ Jerks. _takes picture of Tomoyo and leaves_) Ha, thanks for the laugh, all you other guys!

_Kayland Elric:_ Yeah, I always enjoy a little Kouichi button-pushing, especially when it comes to stairs! Kouji giving advice was odd, but I'm definitely heading for the bunker if Dai ever starts acting normal (lol)! Hotaru giving advice is more common, but still doesn't happen too often. Oh well! Thanks for reviewing!

_JewelledTears:_ Wow, that would be hilarious! And Bella Kouichi in the clumsy department, but it's still fun to pick on him! Actually, I did mention somewhere in the beginning of F2HF that I had only seen the dub of Digimon Frontier, which is why I use the English names. That in no way means that I dislike subs, though. I also don't dislike dubs in any way. I'm pretty neutral on the subject, I just typically watch dubs more than subs! So there's my two cents in the debate! Good luck with those exams! Peace out sucker! (lol)

_fg1fg:_ Yeah, Kouji forgives you, showing he's not a complete jerk! (_Kouji:_ Hmph.) Truthfully, I'm not even sure how I tripped on air, it just kind of happened, cause I was just walking and…I don't know. My dad found it hilarious, though. Yup, happy belated Mother's Day! And the apocalypse may soon be upon us. Thanks!

_GoldenDragon326:_ Like I said, no need to worry about the um for a while. Wicked rocks! And the two that play the Elphaba and Glinda rock! And yup, both me and Kouichi are kind of clumsy! I watch the dubs too, I just like making fun of some of the things in them (like puns). Man, even I was disappointed that the kiss was interrupted, and I wrote it! But Taki will get another chance or my name isn't Madjack! Thanks for reviewing! (Flabbergasted!)

_hazeleyedharmony:_ Almost sweet, hence the title (lol). I'm in AP Lang and APUSH (AP U.S. History), so the tests weren't TOO taxing! Yay for flabbergasted and stairs! Oh wow, thanks for directing me to this site! This is hilarious! All the things I've made fun of for so long…it even made a Kouji Star Wars reference for the episode 27 comparsion (_Kouji:_ What the hell?!)! Thanks for the review, as always!

_Dawn of Glory:_ GASP! I don't want to split up Taki and Kira! I'm just putting a little strain on their relationship is all! Aw, Kouji has good advice occasionally, and it's not like he's inexperienced in the love department. (_JP:_ I'll meet you in the bunker, Dawn. How long do you think we can survive on just chocolate?) Go away, JP. Anyway, thanks for reviewing! (Aw, HinataxNaruto is pretty cute!)

-

_madjack89:_ Alright, time for some new F2R action! Woot!

_**IMPORTANT NOTICE:**_** I kinda messed up a little bit. You see, I've been using the name Dark Area to mean anything within the darkness sphere of the Digital World, but in actuality, I now realize this is incorrect. Now when I mention the Dark Area, it'll mean the spooky place where Kouichi was when he got Duskmon's spirit, and when I mention the Dark CONTINENT, it'll be the actual place the gang went to when they beat Cherubimon, and the place they are currently headed to. Sorry if there was confusion due to my indiscrepancy!**

--

"There you guys are!" Witchmon exclaimed, spotting a group of guys standing a few feet away.

The guys turned, seeing Witchmon, Zoe, and Kira, whom they'd been looking for. "What do you mean here we are?" JP asked, glaring at Witchmon. "You just disappeared into thin air today!"

"Part of having a girls-only day is making sure that you stay away from any and all boys," Witchmon retorted, smirking. "Besides, we found this sweet place to camp tonight that's right by this lake! Only downside is all the burned out trees around the for-"

"Witchmon!" Zoe hissed under her breath, trying to keep Witchmon from mentioning the trees. But it was too late for that, because Takuya's face had already fallen.

"It's the same forest I burned up, isn't it?" Takuya asked Zoe emotionlessly.

"Well…yeah," Zoe replied hesitatingly. "But…we don't even have to stay there if you don't want to, right Witchmon?"

"Hey, don't look at me," Witchmon said hastily. "You didn't tell me that's where Takuya went nuts!"

"Witchmon!" everyone exclaimed, trying to shut Witchmon up. But it was once again too late, for Takuya had already lowered his head and looked slightly depressed.

Witchmon's eyes widened when she realized what she'd said. "Oh crap! I didn't mean…I say things sometimes without thinking…I'm sorry, Taki!"

"It's fine, Witchmon," Takuya said, raising his hand to silence her. "And I don't really mind if we camp there tonight. Like you said, it's a pretty sweet place despite the…burnt trees." He added the last part quietly, looking guiltily at his feet.

The others glanced pityingly at him, except for Kira, who instead looked determined. _This is your chance, Kira! You can finally pay Taki back for always putting a smile on your face by making him feel better! Plus, he'll be so distracted by his problems that he won't even try to kiss me again! Yay!_

Kira smiled to herself, trying to keep her excitement contained. However, while she felt relieved that she wouldn't have to kiss Takuya anytime soon, she also felt slightly disappointed. Unsettled by this, she shook her head and listened as her friends' conversation continued.

"Well, now that that's settled, what are we going to do about Shamanmon?" Bokomon asked.

"We could look for him!" Neemon suggested helpfully.

"We don't even know where to begin looking and in case you've forgotten, our main objective is to get to the Dark Continent and meet up with the Resistance!" Bokomon argued, snapping Neemon's waistband.

"Bokomon's got a point," Kouji agreed, ignoring Neemon's high pitched squeal.

"Maybe we should ask around and figure out what's going on with Shamanmon before we leave," Shino suggested, also trying to be helpful.

"Good idea, Shino!" Zoe said, smiling.

"Really?" Shino said tentatively, turning slightly pink.

"Yeah! You guys can go set up camp while me and Kouichi get information on Shamanmon!" Zoe continued.

"Oh," Shino said quietly, slumping forward anime-style (you know what I mean, right?). "I guess that would be a good idea."

"What do you say, Kouichi?" Zoe asked, turning her attention away from Shino.

"Uh, sure," Kouichi agreed listlessly, glancing guiltily at Shino.

"Alright, the rest of us will go on ahead," Takuya said, walking away with the rest of the group. "C'mon, Shino," he added, grabbing a still sad-looking Shino by the shirt and dragging him along.

JP frowned as he glanced back at Zoe and Kouichi, whispering to Kouji, "You know their not gonna be gathering information, right?"

"What else would they be doing?" Tommy asked curiously, overhearing JP's comment.

"Oh, you know, the standard couple thing," JP explained, shrugging. "Flirting, holding hands, possibly making out, though I still don't know how far they've gotten in that department because Kouichi refuses to tell us."

"They haven't kissed yet, JP," Kouji said. "But I have to agree with you that Zoe probably had an ulterior motive for staying behind with Kouichi."

"Maybe they'll kiss now," Dai guessed.

"You know, it's kind of weird to picture either of those two kissing," Witchmon commented.

"That goes more for Kouichi than for Zoe," Bokomon added. "She's much more confident than him."

"She'll definitely use that to her advantage," JP muttered, smirking.

"Guys, we should probably stop this conversation for Shino's sake, cause he looks like he's about to go jump in a lake," Takuya said, gesturing to a very depressed Shino.

Everyone gave Shino reassuring looks as JP apologized sheepishly. "Sorry there, Shino. Didn't mean to bring up touchy subjects."

"It's oka—wait a second." Shino stared at everyone curiously and asked, "Does everyone know about the crush I have on Zoe except for Zoe?"

"Pretty much," everyone replied, nodding.

"Don't worry, we're keeping her in the dark," Witchmon added. "Pun sort of intended."

"How did all of you find out?" Shino asked nervously.

"Trust me, it really isn't that hard to figure out," Kouji said, smirking. "Zoe's just really bad at knowing when someone has a crush on her unless they come out and tell her themselves."

"You've got a point there," Shino mumbled.

While everyone else moved on to a new topic of discussion, Kira stole a quick glance at Takuya, who was trying (but failing) to look like he wasn't staring at her out of the corner of his eye.

Kira turned back around, feeling flustered. _Why do I feel so awkward around him now? How am I gonna make him feel better when I feel so suckish myself?_

Kira sighed. _Love sucks._

--

About an hour later, Kouichi and Zoe had asked just about every Digimon they could find, but no one seemed to know of Shamanmon's whereabouts. Defeated, they left the village and were heading through the woods to the spot Zoe remembered Witchmon had bragged about.

The sun had set a while ago, leaving the forest feeling dark and foreboding with its many shadows. Zoe shivered, stealing a glance at Kouichi. Unlike her, he didn't seem worried at all by the darkness surrounding them.

_Well of course he isn't worried; he's the warrior of darkness!_ Zoe thought, smirking slightly. But as she continued to stare, she noticed that Kouichi also seemed to be deep in thought about something, which explained the lack of conversation that had been going on since they'd entered the forest.

_I wonder what he's thinking about_, Zoe wondered to herself. _Sometimes it's so easy to know what's going on in his head, but other times it's like trying to figure out a brick wall's thoughts. I envy Kira for getting a guy that's so easy to read._

This thought reminded Zoe of the conversation she'd had earlier with Kira. Takuya had tried to kiss Kira, but Kira didn't feel ready for that.

_What would I do if Kouichi suddenly tried to kiss me?_ Zoe felt her cheeks grow warmer as she thought about this. _Maybe…I'd let him…_

"Zoe." Zoe jumped, but relaxed when she realized that Kouichi had said her name and not some random evil Digimon. She stopped walking when she noticed that he had stopped, stepping back a pace or two until she was next to him again.

"Yeah?" Zoe asked, trying to look through Kouichi's neutral expression and tone.

"I need to ask you a question, and I need you to answer it truthfully," Kouichi stated, staring ahead instead of at Zoe.

"Yeah?" Zoe repeated with more emphasis. _Just let me know what you're thinking_, she added to herself.

Kouichi took a deep breath, for the first time that night looking troubled by something. Then he asked quietly, "Do you like Shino?"

For a moment, there was complete silence. Then Zoe replied, "Well, yeah, he's my friend. Our friend, right?" _What in the world is this about?_

"Of course," Kouichi said quickly, still not looking at Zoe. "It's just that…no, I can't."

"Are you okay?"Zoe asked, confused by Kouichi's behavior now more than before.

Suddenly, Kouichi turned his head, staring directly into Zoe's eyes. Zoe felt paralyzed, stunned by the intense force of his stare. She began to lose herself in his eyes, their overwhelming depth almost intoxicating.

Kouichi's eyes began to soften as he slowly began to experience the same overwhelming feelings as Zoe. The effect her eyes had on him was just as powerful, perhaps more so, than his effect on her. He mentally kicked himself for almost asking whether Zoe really loved him or not; the answer was obvious.

They continued to stare into each others eyes, and without realizing it they were now standing so close together they were practically touching. Realizing this after a moment, they twined their arms around each other, never once breaking eye contact.

"Kouichi?" Zoe asked softly, gazing lovingly at her boyfriend.

"What?" Kouichi replied, equally soft.

"Did you plan this?" Zoe smiled, knowing that this was the moment. And she would definitely let him.

"Not at all." Kouichi smiled back, dazzled by how beautiful she looked in the moonlight. He knew as well as she that it was time, but he didn't feel at all nervous like he thought he would.

Then they finally closed their eyes and leaned toward each other. Their lips met, and their worlds stopped, at least for the moment.

--

_madjack89:_ Heck yeah! I've been waiting forever to write this scene! Woot! Alright, back to the story!

--

"Kira, we need to talk," Takuya stated, staring at Kira intently.

Kira nodded, glancing at the others in the clearing, who all seemed to be staring at her and Takuya. "Um…me and Taki are gonna take a little walk," she said, perplexed by everyone's sudden fascination with the two of them.

"Go have some fun, you crazy kids!" JP said, chuckling.

"Cut it out, JP!" Takuya yelled, glaring at JP and, to Kira's surprise, looking embarrassed.

"Looks like it's couples night in the Digital World," Witchmon said as Takuya and Kira left the clearing, Takuya glancing angrily over his shoulder.

JP sighed, watching the two disappear into the forest. "Ah, young love. So beautiful and poetic."

"JP, shut up," Kouji said, hitting JP hard in the back of the head.

"You think they'll be okay?" Tommy asked tentatively, ignoring JP scowling and rubbing his head. "Takuya seemed really sad before…"

"Don't worry, Tommy, they'll work everything out!" Dai said cheerfully, slinging his arm over Tommy's shoulders.

"Yeah, they'll work it out, while the rest of our love lives suck," Kouji muttered sullenly.

"Speak for yourself, oh King of the Lone Wolves," JP said mockingly, chuckling at his own joke.

"Do you want me to hit you again?" Kouji asked, holding up his fist and glaring at JP.

"No," JP muttered dejectedly, lowering his head.

--

Takuya and Kira trekked through the woods for a few minutes, not saying a word to each other. When Kira couldn't take the silence anymore, she finally said, "Taki, I'm pretty sure that we're far enough away from the others to not be spied on, so maybe we should stop."

Takuya turned and stared at Kira for a moment, expression neutral. Then he nodded his head and stopped next to a large tree, followed by Kira.

There was another moment of silence. Kira watched Takuya warily, wondering what was about to happen. Takuya was staring blankly at the ground, almost like he'd forgotten Kira was there.

Once again not able to be patient and wait for Takuya, Kira said, "It wasn't your fault, Taki."

"What?" Takuya's head shot up as he looked at Kira inquiringly.

"You know, the Beast Spirit thing. It wasn't your fault," Kira repeated, clarifying herself.

Takuya's expression darkened. "Then whose fault was it, Kira? I'm the one that couldn't control my own spirit."

"Um, hello? Kouji? JP? Tommy?" Kira said, ticking the names off on her fingers.

"Zoe? Kouichi?" Takuya retorted sarcastically. "And now even Shino and Dai have gotten their Beast Spirits without any problems whatsoever."

"That's just the way things worked out," Kira said firmly, determined to convince Takuya that the fault wasn't completely his. "You guys told us that Beast Spirits are hard to control, and you guys were just newbies back then yourselves. You didn't know any better."

"You didn't see me, Kira," Takuya muttered, expression growing pained. "I couldn't control myself at all! I could've killed Kouji and JP, and I DID almost kill Tommy! It scares me to think about it, even now…"

"You wouldn't have killed them, Takuya," Kira said slowly, shaking her head.

"How do you know that?" Takuya asked softly. "You weren't even there, so how could you possibly know that?"

"Because I know you, Takuya," Kira said, putting emphasis on the word you. "You're not a killer."

"Then what am I?" Takuya asked, narrowing his eyes at Kira.

Kira paused, and then said with a smile, "You're a goggle head, Takuya. A foolish, stupid goggle head."

Takuya stared quizzically at Kira, not knowing whether to be angry with her or not. "And that's a good thing?"

Kira nodded, still smiling coyly. "You epitomize everything a goggle head is, and that's exactly why you're not a killer. You're too good for that. You're nice and sweet and just plain great to be around. How could a person like you be a killer at heart?"

Kira watched as Takuya's expression changed from a wary curiosity to a surprised hopefulness.

"You really think that…about me?" Takuya asked slowly.

"Yup!" Kira said, nodding enthusiastically. "You're the first guy I've ever felt this way about. I…" Kira stopped, not quite able to say 'I love you' for some reason.

"You what?" Takuya asked curiously.

_C'mon Kira, say it! You've said it before!_ "Well, I…really like you," she said weakly, plastering a smile on her face.

"You really like me?" Takuya said, a knowing smile on his face. "I think I know what you wanted to say, so just say it."

"Um…" _What's this uneasy feeling I'm getting? I do love him, don't I?_

Takuya's curious look turned to one of worry. "Don't you? You know…love me?"

"Yes, but…" Kira said abruptly, not able to express exactly what she was feeling, for she couldn't put a name to it herself.

After a slight pause, Takuya said softly, "I love you, Kira. I love you so much. Does that help any?"

Kira shook her head slowly, covering her face with her hand. _God, what's wrong with me? Why can't I just say it? I'm making Taki upset…_

Suddenly Kira felt someone's arms wrap around her, pulling her into a tight hug. She opened her eyes, staring over Takuya's shoulder at the forest beyond. "Taki…"

"I don't know what's been going on lately with our relationship, Kira," Takuya whispered softly. "I've actually been racking my brain trying to come up with a reason why. Could it have been something I'd done? Did I make you upset?"

"No," Kira said quickly.

Takuya chuckled, placing his hands on Kira's shoulders and standing in front of her, staring at her. "Well, that was just the product of me trying to think again. But while I was trying to come up with something, I realized something else."

"Yeah?" Kira asked, trying to seem nonchalant even though she felt as if a thousand butterflies were fluttering around in her stomach.

Takuya took a deep breath, then said clearly and plainly, "I love you, Kira. And not just in some cute little crush way. I really, truly love you, from your overconfidence that's eerily close to my own to your rough and tumble attitude to your best defense is a good offense attitude. I love you so much, and it hurts to even think that I'm making you upset, and I'm so, so sorry if I am, but I had to tell you how I feel, even if you don't feel the same way…"

"I do love you, Taki," Kira said, smiling genuinely. _But still…_

Before Kira could work out the thought she was having, Takuya rose on his tippy-toes (in case no one's noticed, Taki's kinda short compared to the rest of the gang, including Kira, who is about as tall as the twins) brushed her hair gently out of the way, and kissed Kira gently on the forehead.

Kira stood stock-still for a moment, stunned. She came back to her senses when she noticed Takuya lowering himself until his lips were right in front of hers.

"No!" Kira exclaimed, shoving Takuya back roughly. Takuya stumbled backward a few steps, quickly regaining his balance.

"Kira, I'm sorry, I didn't…" Takuya said quickly, pain flashing across his face.

"It's happening too fast," Kira said to herself, finally realizing what her unease had been about. "It's all just way too fast. Good relationships are slower, they take time."

Kira snapped her head up, staring at Takuya with a frightened expression. "This isn't permanent, is it? I'm just a passing infatuation, nothing more."

"That's not true," Takuya said firmly. "This isn't just some one-night fling or whatever you're imagining. I really do love you."

"Stop!" Kira cried, getting slightly angry now. "How can you possibly love me so much when you haven't even known me a year yet and you've known Zoe way longer?!"

Kira stopped suddenly, realizing what she'd said. Takuya looked at her, several emotions playing across his face, with pain being the foremost. "You're still worried about Zoe?"

Kira took a step back, overwhelmed by the pain shown in Takuya's expression. "I have to go," she said softly, turning and running quickly through the trees, leaving Takuya behind.

--

_madjack89:_ Man, I hate to do this to Kira and Taki, but at least I get to move Zoe and Kouichi along, right?

_Silence…_

_madjack89:_ Um, guys? Where'd you go?

_Kouichi:_ Uh, don't shoot the messenger or anything, but everyone but me, Dai, and Hotaru decided to get out of this commentary to prepare for the next chapter.

_Dai:_ Hi hi, Madjack!

_madjack89:_ Those jerks! I can't believe they ditched me! I should go give them a piece of my mind!

_Hotaru:_ Before you go kill them, you might want to try this cake they made you.

_madjack89:_ Cake?

_Kouichi:_ Well, the anniversary of this fanfiction is also the anniversary of your "writing" career, so we made you a cake. Congratulations.

_Dai:_ Don't worry, we didn't let Takuya and Kouji near it!

_madjack89:_ Aw, that's so sweet!

_Dai:_ You're welcome!

_madjack89:_ But I'm still going to kill the others after I have some cake!

_Kouichi and Hotaru:_ …

_Dai:_ Don't shoot the messenger! Hee!

_madjack89:_ Alright, I guess I'll see ya the chapter after the next! Have fun with the gang!

_Takuya: pokes head through door_ Hey guys, did the cake get her to forgive us?

_madjack89:_ Die, goggle headed shorty, die! _lunges for Takuya_

_Takuya:_ Ahhhh! _runs_

_Kouichi:_ Uh…see you in the next chapter?

_Dai:_ Bye bye!


	11. Ch 11: Happy Anniversary!

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 11: Super Duper Awesome Special Chapter of…Awesomeness!**

_Kouji:_ Takuya, what the hell kind of title is that?

_Takuya:_ An awesome kind of title!

_Dai:_ I like it!

_Takuya:_ Thank you, Dai!

_Kouji: sigh_

_Kouichi:_ Well, wasn't that a fun opening?

_Zoe:_ And there's a lot more fun to be had, because today, the cast of Frontier 02, meaning us, is gonna celebrate the one year anniversary of F2HF and F2R!

_Kira:_ Wootness!

_Shino:_ There's gonna be a special guest interview, sneak peaks of upcoming chapters, and Takuya and Kouji bickering at each other!

_Takuya and Kouji:_ We do not bicker!

_Shino:_ And possibly some bickering with the rest of us.

_JP:_ Alright, let's get this party started with some review answering! So, who's gonna do it?

_Everyone else:_ You.

_JP:_ What?! Why me?

_Kira:_ Cause you've never done it before and some of the reviewers are fans of yours.

_JP:_ You've never done it before and you have fans, too!

_Kira: glares_

_JP:_ Okay, okay, I'll do it!

-

_garnettfox:_ Alright, let's see…hm, I'm not really a writer, but I guess writer's block is frustrating, so sorry bout that. But congrats for having a new chapter of your story up! I'm sure Madjack will be checking it out fairly soon. And, wait, you're willingly putting Madjack in a story of yours? Are you mad?! Who knows what she'll do? _sigh_ Well, I guess it's your story, so good luck with that. And thanks for the review.

_hazeleyedharmony:_ Well, hello there! You're the one that drew the pictures of Kira, Shino, Dai, and Hotaru, right? Well, thanks again for that! They really liked them! Now for the review…oh god, this has different parts? Well, I guess that makes it more organized…APUSH…I'm not really a history buff of any country, not even my own, but Madjack seemed to think it was pretty cool, even with the large amount of homework. And Madjack is definitely dedicated, if nothing else.  
_Part one:_ Alright, part numero uno…I've been learning Spanish from Madjack…oh my god, Witchmon is like Madjack, isn't she? CRAP! Well, anyway, I think Neemon's a bit too…spacey to snap, but that's my opinion. And I see that Shino has a fan! Congrats, Shino! Hm, I guess we are a little innocent in a way…cause we're all virgins (_Everyone:_ JP!) Okay, okay, sorry…and the puns have returned. Great.  
_Part two: _Awwww (that's sarcasm right there). Yeah, I don't want to think about this part, if it's all the same to you. I act like I don't care, but…I don't know. I'll get over it, I guess.  
_Part three:_ Well thanks a lot! _grumble  
Part four:_ Hm, I have a similar analysis of Kira. Despite insulting me, you aren't half bad!  
Okay, we're FINALLY done the review! Thank you!

_apapa155:_ I wish Dai would fall asleep from sugar, too…anyway, sorry I snapped at you last time. I was in a bad mood, but I'm okay now! Oh, more presents! I'll get them to everyone else later. Sweet magic kit! It says I can pull a Patamon out of a hat…(0.0). Uh huh…well, thanks for reviewing!

_Aldamonburst:_ KouichixZoe…_sigh_. They are cute, aren't they? Oh well. You know, seeing as Kira constantly hides what she's really feeling so much so that sometimes she doesn't even realize she's doing it, it's not that hard to imagine her not wanting to kiss Taki. But whatever. Uh…ew is right. Poor Ryo, he just wanted to get some. Hm, Duskmon doesn't like his Beast Spirit? Maybe that could work to our advantage…oh jeez, you guys are just spoon feeding Madjack these ideas, aren't you? Now she's probably gonna put us all in these forms for a chapter or something! Well, thanks anyway for the review.

_GoldenDragon326:_ Go get your woman, Taki! Ha ha, man, I loved Hamburger Village! You should've seen Zoe chew out those two when we found out what they'd been doing while we were fighting Petaldramon! It was pretty damn hilarious! And they still really can't cook! Ha! Well, I guess that's it…wait, what story where Madjack enters the story? What're you talking about? Man, I gotta check this out sometime! Thanks for reviewing!

_Dawn of Glory:_ Love sucks so much sometimes. Luckily, I've gotten past that, at least! Hopefully. But anyway, yes, Madjack can be pretty darn cruel sometimes. And in that case, here, have a chocolate bar, free of charge! Thanks for reviewing! (I feel your pain, Sakura.)

_fg1fg:_ Yeah, thanks for those cards, though Madjack nearly killed us for using them. Eh, Dai got the rest of the cake when Madjack was done, so he restrained himself. Oh Taki, you little shorty! (_Taki:_ Shut up, JP!) Heh heh, anyway, I'm not so sure the twins would want that whole sight sharing thing with Chief sucking face at the moment…it would be like Vampire Academy (if you get this reference, you officially rock!). God, two years with Madjack…yeah, we'll just cross that bridge when we come to it (and we'll check it before we walk on it, right Zee?) (_Zoe:_ You know, now that I think about it, the creators of Digimon Frontier didn't let me imagine there being two Koujis…). Yeah, no twin foreshadowing. Alright, thank you very mucho for el reviewo!

-

_JP:_ Man, that was actually tiring!

_Takuya:_ Good job anyway, Jeep!

_Kouji:_ You know that's never gonna catch on, right?

_Kira:_ Shut up, pretty boy!

_Kouji:_ Son of a—

_Shino:_ Okay, time to move on to…what exactly are we supposed to be doing?

_Kouichi:_ Well, this is an anniversary, so I guess we reminisce.

_Dai:_ How about we each name what our favorite part of the story was so far! That would be fun!

_Zoe:_ Excellent idea, Dai! Alright, I guess I'll go first. My favorite part would probably have to be in…the previous chapter. _glances at Kouichi_

_Kouichi: blush_ Now what'll my favorite part be?

_Takuya:_ While you think of that, I'll tell them my favorite part, which is in chapter 13 of F2HF! You know, 'it'!

_Kouji:_ Oh my god, that was horrible!

_Takuya:_ Well, I thought it was awesome! I wish we could do that again!

_Kouji:_ No!

_Hotaru:_ Now that I think about it, isn't that the chapter where Madjack first started Star Wars jokes about you, Kouji?

_Kouji:_ …I think this is my favorite part of the story, because Madjack isn't here. Yeah.

_Hotaru:_ Well, I guess that my favorite part would be…chapter 9 of F2HF, because that's when I started branching out a little more.

_Dai:_ My favorite part was when I got my Beast Spirit in chapter 7! Yay! Oh, and I also like it when people give me chocolate (sugar free, of course)!

_Hotaru:_ The way you plead for chocolate makes it seem like we're not feeding you or something.

_Dai:_ …CHOCOLATE!

_Hotaru: sigh…_

_Tommy:_ My favorite part is in chapter 4 of F2HF when I managed to fix Takuya's goggles!

_Takuya:_ Aw, come here, buddy! _hugs_

_Kira:_ Hm, I kinda liked the first fortune telling chapter, but my favorite's gotta be chapter 10 of F2HF when Taki tries to get me out of my shell and realizes he likes me!

_Takuya: _^_^

_Kira:_ I also loved getting to punch him a lot! That was fun!

_Takuya:_ 0.0

_Kouichi:_ Alright, I've got one. My favorite part is in chapter 15 for obvious reasons.

_JP:_ Obvious get together with Zoe reasons.

_Kouichi: blushes_ Yeah…

_Shino:_ Um, I guess my favorite part would have to be when I got my Beast Spirit.

_JP:_ And my favorite part of the story, without a doubt, is in chapter 23, not only because I get together with Tomoyo, but because it was hilarious to see Zoe and Tommy go crazy in the commentaries!

_Zoe and Tommy:_ _glare at JP_

_Kouichi:_ Okay, maybe we should get on to another topic, guys! Heh heh…

_Takuya:_ Hm, what to do next…oh, I know! Let's take a look at these notes for future chapters that Madjack let us borrow!

_Kira:_ Alrighty! Hm…_have Gotsumon be integral part of Resistance._ Hey pretty boy, looks like you get to see your pet rock again!

_Kouji:_ Shut up, Yankee!

_Tommy:_ This card says _separate Tommy from rest of group to get him more self-reliant._ How is she getting me away from the rest of you?

_JP:_ I shudder to think…

_Shino:_ It gets worse. This card says _explore dark sides of everybody._

_Kouichi:_ Well, THAT should be fun.

_Kouji:_ This says _get Kouji even more emo than he already is cause it'll be interesting for his character and it'll be fun to pick on him. Sorry Kouji!_

_Kira:_ …Oh boy, here we go…

_Kouji:_ …Goodbye. _turns and leaves_

_Takuya:_ Kouji wait! I'm sure she didn't…c'mon, Chief! _Taki and Kouichi follow Kouji_

_Zoe:_ …Well, while they do that, let's have that guest appearance we mentioned earlier!

_Kira:_ Come on in, Masumon!

_Masumon: enters room_ Hi, everybody!

_Dai: plays recording of an audience clapping and cheering as Masumon enters_

_Shino:_ Hm, you don't look weird like most Digimon do. You just look like a normal human.

_Masumon:_ Well, I am a human-type Digimon, silly!

_Shino:_ True.

_Dai:_ Oh, those are some pretty tattoos on your arm! They're all swirly and blue!

_Masumon:_ Thank you! _pats Dai's head_

_Dai:_ Hee!

_JP:_ Wow, you're nice! Maybe it's good that Kouji isn't here…

_Masumon:_ Kouji?

_Kira:_ The jackass Warrior of Light. He's busy at the moment, along with the Warriors of Fire and Darkness.

_Masumon:_ The Warrior of Light is a donkey?

_Kira:_ No, I mean…never mind. So, how's that whole captivity thing treating ya?

_Masumon:_ Ilsemon's my sister; I'm used to her torture by now. It's still horrible, though…

_Everyone:_ Aw…

_Tommy:_ Now I feel kinda bad…

_Masumon:_ Oh, it's alright. I'll be fine. You just worry about yourselves for now.

_Kira:_ My god, she is really, really nice!

_Shino:_ Now we really have to rescue her.

_Masumon:_ Aw, you guys are so sweet!

_Zoe:_ YOU'RE so sweet! But anyway, Madjack told us to describe your appearance while you're here for the readers.

_Masumon:_ Okay!

_JP:_ She's pretty, I can tell you that!

_Tomoyo:_ JP!!

_JP:_ Tomoyo! What are you doing here?!

_Tomoyo:_ Celebrating Frontier 02's anniversary, but let me just wait outside and let you finish hitting on this DIGIMON! _storms out_

_JP:_ Tomoyo, wait! _goes after Tomoyo_

_Hotaru:_ What a man.

_Masumon:_ Oh, I guess you aren't as taciturn as I thought!

_Hotaru:_ Taciturn?

_Masumon:_ You know, quiet!

_Hotaru:_ Oh, sorry. I guess I haven't said much. I was spacing a little.

_Masumon:_ It's okay, really! I just wasn't expecting you to talk.

_Shino:_ Let's just start describing Masumon without JP.

_Masumon:_ Shouldn't I try to help him fix things with his girlfriend? It's my fault that happened…

_Dai:_ It's okay, they'll be fine! They fight like this a lot!

_Masumon:_ They do?

_Kira:_ An extremely possessive chick paired with a lovable flirt. Of course you'll get fights there.

_Masumon:_ I guess that's true.

_Zoe:_ Alright, let's describe you now. Let's see…you've got some pretty blond hair. It's straight and shoulder length.

_Kira:_ You've got hazel eyes and you're kind of pale, but not in an albino way.

_Dai:_ You've got swirly blue tattoos going down the length of your left arm, starting from your shoulder.

_Hotaru:_ We can see your arm because, like most Digimon females, you've got an outfit that kind of doesn't cover you up all the way, though yours isn't so bad. It's like a white robe type thing with straps, a low neckline, and it comes down to about your knees.

_Shino:_ And on your feet you have kind of Roman looking sandals.

_Tommy:_ And you have little wings on your back.

_Shino:_ Oh yeah, she does.

_Masumon:_ I can make them small like this because they're too annoying to walk around with. I make them bigger in order to fly.

_Dai:_ Oh, you can fly?!

_Masumon:_ Yes, but I usually just walk. Flying feels almost wrong to me, for some reason.

_Zoe:_ I see…well, that's all Madjack wanted, so I guess we can get on with some questions of our own.

_Masumon:_ Okay!

_Kira:_ Okay, let's start with an obvious one. How the hell are we gonna beat your sister?

_Masumon:_ Hm, I'm not quite sure. We'll just have to come up with a plan or something, I guess!

_Everyone: thinking- She sure is carefree…_

_Shino:_ Alright, how about this question. What are your attacks exactly?

_Masumon:_ I'm a very peaceable Digimon, so I don't really have "attacks," I have abilities, like my ability to enter dreams and my ability to manifest light.

_Dai:_ Do you have a Light Saber like Kouji?

_Masumon:_ Um, no, I can't manifest it into a weapon like the Warrior of Light can. What I can do is project it in front of me like a shield and, occasionally, use it to heal.

_Kira:_ Like blood and gore healing?

_Masumon:_ More like darkness-tainted healing. Like if someone had been consumed by darkness, I could help them.

_Zoe:_ I see…hey, wait a second, how did you know that a Light Saber was a weapon? That's a reference to human media.

_Masumon:_ Um…I don't know. I just knew somehow.

_Shino:_ …Alright! Well, thanks for coming and being with us today, even though you haven't really been in the story yet.

_Masumon:_ Oh, it was my pleasure! Goodbye everyone, hope to see you soon! _leaves_

_Silence…_

_Hotaru:_ Is it just me, or is she a little—

_Zoe:_ Spacey?

_Hotaru:_ Yeah.

_Kira:_ Well, she is being held captive by her crazy psychotic sister who is probably putting her through numerous and varied tortures. Considering that, I'd say she's doing pretty well.

_Everyone else:_ True.

_Takuya:_ Alright guys, we're back! We got Kouji a slushie and he felt better!

_Kira:_ A slushie?

_Kouji:_ …I like slushies. _slurps slushie_

_Kouichi:_ What'd we miss?

_Shino:_ JP's in trouble with Tomoyo again and we did the guest interview without you. Sorry!

_Takuya:_ Ah man! I was looking forward to that!

_Kira:_ Oh, I'm sorry, Taki! Hey, want a slushie?

_Takuya:_ That doesn't work with me, Kira.

_Kira:_ Darn.

_Kouichi:_ So what are we doing next?

_Zoe:_ Uh…oh, I know! How about a sneak preview of Hotaru's one-shot that Madjack's been promising for months but still hasn't finished yet!

_Mostly everyone:_ Okay!

_Hotaru:_ I suppose.

_Zoe:_ Alright, here it is!

-

My mother said his name was Daiki. Apparently, he was my now-orphaned cousin.

I had never met him, so I barely knew he existed. I had never met my aunt and uncle, his parents, either. They were sort of cut off from our family. It had something to do with some fight that happened before I was born.

But now they were dead, so the fight was instantly forgotten. Feeling guilty about past grievances wasn't going to give Dai a new home, though. The car accident had killed his parents, but not him.

So out of the goodness of my parents' hearts, we took my cousin in.

After his parents' funeral, we went to meet our new housemate in the hospital. It was actually a miracle that this kid had survived, considering he had a pretty major heart disease. They said he'd had an attack during the accident, and he had gotten other injuries to add to it.

As we approached his room, Mom reminded me to be nice to Dai. "Remember, he just lost his parents," she said just as the door opened.

What I expected to see was some sickly, depressed five-year-old sitting in his hospital bed and feeling sorry for himself. What I did see was a happy-looking five-year-old with a few scrapes and bruises that he seemed to be ignoring due to his attention being caught up in what looked like a manga.

He looked up when we came in and instantly planted a big smile on his face.

"You must be the aunt and uncle who're gonna take me in!" he said, getting straight to the point. "Hello! My name is Daiki, and I guess I'm your new roommate!"

All my parents could do was stare. This definitely hadn't been what they'd expected.

"As you can see, he's very cheerful for a child in his situation," the nurse said hastily, shuffling my parents out of the room. "Now, why don't we leave the two kids here to get acquainted while we fill out the all-important paperwork!"

The door shut quietly, and I was alone with my new cousin, Daiki.

The first thing I noticed was that his expression mellowed out a little when he looked at me. I frowned. Did he already hate me?

"Do you think I made a good impression on them?" he asked me, looking kind of tired.

I was confused by the sudden question, so I shrugged. He continued to stare at me, and then he giggled. I frowned again. Was he laughing at me?

Daiki saw my frown and said, "I'm sorry, but you really don't talk much, do you? Would you answer me if I asked you what your name is?"

I considered ignoring him, but instead I muttered, "Hotaru."

He grinned, this time genuinely, and said, "Nice to meet you, Mr. Hotaru Kazuki!"

It was at that moment that I resolved to stay as far away from my cousin as possible from that time on.

-

_JP:_ Well, I guess that proves she's writing it.

_Tomoyo:_ She's so slow sometimes. I mean, Digital Clue. Seriously.

_Kira:_ Hey guys. Done your petty argument?

_JP and Tomoyo:_ Yup.

_Takuya:_ Alright, let's get on to the best part of the celebration; the party games!

_Kouji:_ NO!

_Takuya:_ Calm down, you don't have to play. Just go pose with your slushie by that wall to give your fangirls fan service.

_Kouji:_ …You're just jealous cause you don't have a slushie. _walks away from game area with slushie_

_Kira:_ Alright, party games! Which ones do we have lined up, Taki?

_Takuya:_ We've got Extreme Tug-of-War, Extreme Ping-Pong, Extreme Hide and Seek, and Extreme Monopoly.

_Shino:_ What's so extreme about them?

_Takuya:_ We have to Spirit Evolve to play them!

_Shino:_ Oh great.

_Kira:_ Woot! So, which one are we playing?

_Dai:_ How about Extreme Ping-Pong! I like ping-pong!

_Takuya:_ Great idea! Anybody else wanna play too?

_Witchmon:_ Me!

_Impmon:_ Me too!

_Renamon:_ I suppose I'll play.

_Duskmon: looks at non-existent hands_ This is a flaw in my design…

_Bokomon:_ I think I'd rather observe along with Kouji and Duskmon.

_Neemon:_ Slushie!

_Kouji:_ Get your own!

_Kouichi: sigh_

After several minutes of Extreme Ping-Pong…

_Impmon:_ Ha! Take dat!

_Beetlemon:_ Annoying little twerp! _electrocutes ball and hits back at Impmon_

_Impmon:_ Argh! _ducks_

_Kazemon:_ Hurricane Wave! _blows ping-pong ball at high speeds_

_Renamon: hits ball back to Kazemon_ Did you really think that would stop me?

_Lowemon:_ Duck!

_Everyone ducks as several flaming ping-pong balls fly through the air_

_Kazemon:_ Takuya, stop lighting your balls on fire!

_Agunimon:_ That's what she said!

_Kazemon:_ That does it! C'mon guys, I have a new game idea, and it's called kick the crap out of Agunimon! Hurricane Wave!

_Agunimon:_ Argh!

_Kouji, Bokomon, and Duskmon: watch as others attack Takuya_

_Duskmon:_ I may have to get in on this game.

_Kouji:_ Me too, c'mon.

_Kouji and Duskmon: head toward others_

_Bokomon: sigh_ I suppose that puts an end to the one year anniversary celebration. Wizardmon, Gatomon, Witchmon, take us out.

_Wizardmon:_ Uh…I hope that you've enjoyed the story so far, because it's supposed to get even better in chapters to come.

_Gatomon:_ Yes, so much crazy stuff is supposed to happen that we can't even give you enough sneak peaks of all the greatness!

_Witchmon:_ With that in mind, the three of us bid you adieu until the next chapter is out!

_Gatomon:_ Remember to keep reviewing and we may see you in the second anniversary celebration!

_Wizardmon:_ Why am I doing this? I'm not enigmatic like you two.

_Witchmon:_ Ignore our brother; he's a loser.

_Wizardmon: glares_

_Gatomon: _See ya later!


	12. Ch 12: The Betrayal

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing — Chapter 12: The Betrayal **

_madjack89: _Hello people, I'm back! How was the gang last chapter?

_Takuya:_ Ow…

_madjack89:_ Great!

_Takuya:_ I said ow! On what planet is the word ow a good thing?

_madjack89:_ My planet!

_Takuya:_ …They broke my arm, you know.

_madjack89:_ What?! Hey guys, you can do anything you want to each other as long as it doesn't involve breaking limbs or hurting each other in irreversible ways! Those are the rules!

_JP:_ We have rules?

_Kouji:_ Madjack, it wasn't us, it was Ilsemon's cronies which YOU invited in the first place.

_madjack89: _Details, details…

_Takuya:_ So can you fix my arm with your author powers or something?

_madjack89:_ I can try. Let's see…the leg bone's connected to the…other bone.

_Takuya:_ Oh god I'm in trouble…

_madjack89:_ Dai, get me some pens and paper, stat!

_Dai:_ Ai ai, captain!

_madjack89:_ Shino, do you know anything about the bones in a human body and what order they go in?

_Shino:_ No, but my mom has a chart…

_madjack89:_ Go get the chart!

_Shino:_ Okay, okay…

_madjack89:_ JP!

_JP:_ Yes?

_madjack89:_ Give me some chocolate; I'm hungry!

_JP:_ Oh, so you just automatically assume I have chocolate with me!

_madjack89:_ Do you?

_JP:_ Well, that's not—

_madjack89:_ Do you?

_JP:_ …Here.

_madjack89:_ Thank you! _munches on chocolate_ Alright, while Dai and Shino get me supplies, I'll answer your reviews! Yay!

-

_Dawn of Glory:_ Sorry I got your hopes up about an update before, but here's an actual update! Hooray! But I'm glad you liked the celebration anyway. I hope I'll be able to do a second someday! Oh, and CHOCOLATE! (Sorry Sakura…) Thanks for reviewing!

_DigiBleach:_ Yay, more people that think KouichixZoe is adorable! Yay! (lol) Anyway, I'm glad you like the story and my writing! I try! And I'm glad you like that You Tube video! Once again, I try! Yeah, Masumon's healing ability will be used, which is why I brought it up (might as well tell you). Alright, thanks for reviewing!

_Aldamonburst:_ Well, I'm glad you think I'm funny! Yeah, I really want to change Calmaramon's appearance for poor old Kira's sake, but that won't work with what I want to do in the next few chapters, so I'll just have to suck it up and write (I'm scared lol). Oh, twin attacks! Yay! Maybe I'll get to use them someday…anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_garnettfox:_ Heh heh, sucks with teeth. (_JP:_ Hey, I'm not complaining. I got to say sucks TWICE in the DUB of Digimon!) Very true. Concerning the story ideas from your last review, I say go for it! They sound cool! Alright, thank you very much for the review!

_JewelledTears:_ Yay hybrid drinks! (lol) Wow, Duskmon having paddle hands…hey Duskmon! (_Duskmon:_ No.) Darn. Well, I'm glad you think my random ideas are interesting! Technically, I'm not making Kouji "emo" per say (I was just messing with him!). I'm just gonna…mess with him a little in heart-wrenching ways that may get him a bit depressed. (_Kouji: glares_) Sorry! Okay, thanks for the review! (And I don't even know how I manage to juggle three stories at once! It is indeed a mystery!)

_apapa155:_ It's always fun to beat Taki up, isn't it? I'm glad you thought the chapter was funny! Aw, sorry I made you nervous, Eva. Here, have a cookie! _hands cookie_ In fact, I'll give you a big plate of cookies to share with everyone! _hands plate of cookies_ Thanks for the brownies, by the way! Alright, thanks for the review!

_GoldenDragon326:_ Yay anniversary! (lol) Man, a myspace thing is messing with my story? Curse it! Oh well, anyway, Takuya liked chapter thirteen because he thought it was cool to be Kouji for awhile (don't ask me why…). Yeah, I didn't want to steal your face, so I made it different. Hooray! Yup, that's Masumon! I like her! And there is a specific reason why she knew what a Light Saber is, but I can't tell you yet. Just be patient a bit longer! Hm…I guess Kouji would be drinking some sort of blue slushie…blueberry perhaps? Anyway, thanks for the review!

_zandermon:_ Congratulations, you are the 100th reviewer of this story! Hooray! That means you get a prize! Hm…here, have this commemorative prototype Takuya plushie I've been working on! It has twenty different action-packed phrases! Hee hee! Anyway, back to the review. Yay extreme insanity! I'm glad you liked the chapter, and thanks for the review! (And I got your message and sent you a reply already.)

-

_madjack89:_ Alright, I got my supplies! Let's see what I can do about that arm, Taki!

_Kira:_ Please don't accidentally disfigure him!

_Takuya:_ That raises my confidence right up there, Kira.

_madjack89:_ Hm, to begin, we must knock the patient out!

_Takuya:_ …Wait, what? Why do you need to do that?

_madjack89:_ Because when I was a child I never got to play the doctor in the doctor game, so here's my chance! Don't worry, I won't dismember you or anything!

_Takuya:_ But all you'd have to do to fix my arm is write it down!

_madjack89:_ This is more fun!

_Takuya: looks at me nervously_

_Shino:_ Don't worry, Takuya, we won't let her do anything bad to you.

_Takuya:_ Why…?

_madjack89:_ Kouji, apply the anesthesia!

_Kouji:_ Um…alright then. _hits Takuya across back of head_

_Takuya: falls unconscious _

_madjack89:_ Good job, Nurse Kouji!

_Kouji:_ Nurse?

_madjack89:_ Alright, while I fix Taki's arm, enjoy the twelfth chapter of F2R!

_Shino:_ Man, I feel bad for Takuya…

—

"Zo, I think we're going around in circles," Kouichi said suddenly, stopping next to a large tree.

Zoe halted, giving Kouichi a skeptical glance. "What makes you say that?" she asked, staring Kouichi down.

"Well," Kouichi began, feeling uncomfortable under Zoe's gaze. "You see, I've been keeping track of this tree here, and we've passed it five times now."

Zoe glanced at the tree, then back at Kouichi. "How do you know that's the same tree?"

"It's purple with orange stripes, Zo," Kouichi said flatly. "It's kind of hard to miss."

Zoe paused, and then sighed. "Oh, you're right; we're lost!" Zoe sighed again, exasperated by her own inattentiveness. Then suddenly she realized something else Kouichi had said.

"You called me Zo," Zoe said, staring at Kouichi.

Kouichi blinked, surprised by this statement. "Well, I just thought that…maybe…I could give you a little nickname, because…I don't know…" Kouichi lowered his head, embarrassed.

Zoe smiled, placing her hand reassuringly on Kouichi's shoulder. "I like it. It's interesting."

"In a good way or a bad way?" Kouichi asked, still unsure.

"Definitely a good way," Zoe replied, chuckling.

Kouichi smiled, relieved. "So what do we do now?" he asked, getting back to the task at hand.

"I don't know," Zoe said, shaking her head slowly. "I thought we were going the right way, but…" Zoe paused, then continued a bit sheepishly, "that kiss got me a little flustered."

As expected, Kouichi's face turned instantly red at the mention of the kiss they'd shared. "I'm sorry," he muttered, glancing at his feet.

"Don't be," Zoe said. "It was really nice. In fact," here Zoe grabbed Kouichi's hand and shook it jokingly, "thank you for my first kiss!"

Kouichi paused, eyes wide. Then he laughed, warmed by Zoe's cheeriness. "Let's hope it's not the last."

"Right," Zoe agreed, letting go of Kouichi's hand and grabbing her D-Tector. "Alright, let's try to contact one of the guys and hope they don't laugh too much at us!"

—

"Kira!" Takuya called yet again, making his way through the forest. "Please come out, Kirahhh!"

Takuya cried out in surprise when his foot caught on the root of a tree and he began to fall. He instinctively held out his arms and caught himself with his hands before he hit the ground.

Takuya remained motionless, crouched on the ground. Then he muttered, "What did I do?"

He got up slowly, continuing to talk to himself. "Could it have been something I said? Something I did, or didn't do?"

When no reply came, Takuya yelled, "What did I do wrong, Kira? Whatever it is, I'm sorry! I'll do better! I'll compliment you, and give you gifts, and—"

Takuya's breath caught in his throat and he stopped, hands clenched in frustration. "Just tell me why you think I'm still in love with Zoe."

"Hello, anybody there?" Takuya jumped, startled by the voice coming from his D-Tector. It took him a moment to realize that the voice was Zoe's.

"Zoe?" he said tentatively, pushing thoughts of Kira out of his mind for a moment. "What is it? Are you and Chief okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Zoe said. Takuya noticed that she sounded a bit ashamed, which worried him.

"What's wrong, Zoe?" Takuya asked seriously. "Did something attack you two?"

"No," Zoe said quickly, and Takuya could just picture her shaking her head rapidly. "You see, Kouichi and I, we…"

"We got lost," Takuya heard Kouichi say.

"Well, yeah," Zoe said, sounding slightly embarrassed by her predicament. "But it's mostly my fault, so don't go picking on Kouichi or anything."

At first, Takuya stood there, dumbstruck. Then he began to laugh.

"It's not that funny, Takuya!" Zoe yelled through the D-Tector, hearing Takuya's hysterical laughter.

"Yes it is!" Takuya managed to reply before bursting into more laughter.

"Takuya, just tell us how to get to the camp," Kouichi said calmly, trying to calm both Takuya and Zoe down at the same time.

"Alright, alright…" Takuya said, laughter finally dying down. "Where are you right now?"

"We're next to this weird purple and orange tree," Zoe said, explaining their surroundings.

"I take great offense to that!" Takuya heard a third voice 'bark' in the background. (Ha, it's a pun!)

"Sorry Cherrymon, but you do kind of look out of place compared to these other trees," Zoe said, sounding sheepish.

"True enough," Cherrymon muttered.

"Wait, I remember passing by that tree," Takuya said, recalling the route he'd taken earlier. "From there, just go north until you get to a stream, then turn left and keep walking until you find the guys."

"You're not with them?" Zoe asked curiously.

"Not at the moment," Takuya replied, Kira popping back into his thoughts. "I'm just taking care of something right now."

"A Kira kind of something?" Takuya's eyes widened, surprised by Zoe's remark.

"How did you know?" he asked.

"Well, I don't know what it is, but she's been a little down for the past few days," Zoe explained, voice growing sympathetic. "Is she with you, or did she run off?"

"She ran off," Takuya replied quietly.

"I see," Zoe said thoughtfully. "You're looking for her, aren't you?"

"I have to," Takuya said firmly. "It's my fault this happened in the first place. If I'd never tried to kiss her, this wouldn't be happening."

"That's not true," Zoe said sympathetically. Takuya could almost picture her kindness filled eyes. "It's not your fault. Kira's just working through some issues. She'll come around, you'll see."

"We'll keep an eye out for her," Kouichi added, sounding equally sympathetic. "We'll let you know if we find her."

Takuya smiled, spirits lifted by his friends' kindness. "Thanks, guys," he said. "That means a lot."

"No problem," Zoe and Kouichi replied at the same time.

"And thanks for helping us too, Takuya," Zoe added before ending her transmission. Takuya pocketed his D-Tector and continued his search, enlightened by his friends.

"Hang on Kira; here I come!"

—

Kira leaned against a tree, staring out at the forest before her. She heard a stick crack and froze, expecting Takuya to come out from behind a branch or bush. But after several moments, she realized that was just her paranoia getting the best of her.

Now that she was alone, Kira realized how stupid it had been to run off like that. All she could do was replay Takuya's pained expression in her mind, causing her as much pain as she had caused him.

"I'm sorry, Takuya," Kira muttered to herself, sinking slowly to the ground. Once she was on the ground, she grabbed her legs to her chest and laid her head on her knees.

"I don't know what's wrong," she said, voice muffled. "I don't know why I'm so afraid that you'll leave. Maybe…I think I'm just not the girl for you."

Kira squeezed her legs tighter, tears welling up in her eyes. "You deserve better!"

"Do you believe that, Kira?" Kira's head shot up, startled by the voice she heard above her. She was even more startled when she saw that the person that had spoken was Zoe.

Zoe stared down at Kira, eyes completely expressionless. Kira's eyebrow shot up, confused. Usually Zoe wore her emotions like an open book. But now Kira couldn't tell what she was thinking. "Zoe?" Kira said slowly, getting back to her feet. "You okay?"

"Do you believe that?" Zoe repeated her earlier question, cold eyes locked on Kira. "Do you believe what you said?"

Kira paused, not knowing where this was coming from. "Zoe, are you alright? Did something happen…?"

"Answer my question, Kira!" Zoe snapped, now glaring at Kira. Kira flinched, taken aback by Zoe's sudden anger.

"Zoe, what's going on? Why are you so mad at me?" Kira asked, anger flaring up in her. "I haven't done anything!"

"Haven't done anything?" Zoe chuckled coldly, still glaring at Kira. "You've done everything!"

"Zoe, what are you talking about? I don't understand!" Kira yelled, getting a bit hysterical.

Zoe's chuckle turned into a full laugh at Kira's statement, but it wasn't anything like her normal, good-natured laughter. It was dark and cold as ice.

Kira's anger began to subside as fear took its place. "Zoe…?"

Suddenly Zoe's hand shot out and she grabbed Kira by the collar, pinning her against the tree behind her. Kira struggled, but Zoe was surprising much stronger than her. It was surprising because Kira had always found herself to be the stronger of the two, but now she was helpless in Zoe's grasp.

"Help," Kira tried to yell, but was cut off by Zoe slamming her against the tree again, hard.

"Listen to me, Kira," Zoe said, staring straight into Kira's eyes. Kira felt as if they were boring right into her heart and soul, and found she couldn't look away.

"You've caused Takuya enough pain and suffering to last a lifetime," Zoe murmured just loud enough for Kira to hear. "It's time that he had a girl who can really be there for him, instead of the other way around. Do you believe that could be you, the way you are now? No, you've been broken too many times."

Kira realized what Zoe was getting at before she spoke the words. "It's time that he and I were together, the way it was meant to be."

Kira's eyes widened, causing Zoe to smirk. Then she let Kira go, turned, and ran into the forest, leaving Kira behind to gather her thoughts.

At first, Kira could only stand still, eyes still wide with shock. Then a slow smile played across her face. "I knew it," she muttered to herself. "I freaking knew it!"

Kira took an unsteady breath, holding her tears back for the time being. Then she began to run. She had to find Takuya, before it was too late. She had to give herself a fighting chance. She had to.

—

"Takuya?" Takuya turned at the sound of his name. The voice sounded feminine, and for a moment Takuya got his hopes up that Kira had returned on her own.

His face fell when he saw Zoe standing behind him. "Oh…hi Zoe," Takuya muttered a greeting dejectedly.

"Sorry to get your hopes up," Zoe said, mocking annoyance. After a moment of silence, Zoe asked, "Are you alright, Takuya?"

Takuya nodded. "Where's Kouichi?" he asked, noticing that Kouichi wasn't there with Zoe.

"Back at camp," Zoe replied. "We made it there thanks to you, but…I was worried about you, and I wanted to help, so I left to try and help you in any way I can."

Takuya smiled slowly. _Good old Zoe. We can always count on her._ "Thanks, Zoe," he said, perking up a bit. "If you really want to, could you maybe check behind that bush over there? I haven't looked there yet."

"Sure thing," Zoe muttered gently, walking toward the spot indicated by Takuya.

After several minutes of searching, Takuya sighed, getting more and more depressed as the search continued. "Kira…" he murmured, staring at the ground.

"Takuya, you're not really okay, are you?" Takuya glanced to his left, seeing Zoe standing beside him with a sympathetic look on her face.

"No," Takuya replied, closing his eyes. "I'm not, and I won't be until we find Kira. It's all my fault that she ran off, just like it's my fault that she's felt so wrong for the past few days. I want to make her happy, but I can't."

Takuya clenched his fists, not knowing what else he could possibly do to make things right with Kira. There seemed to be nothing…

"Takuya." Takuya turned and was instantly grabbed around the waist by Zoe and pulled into a tight hug.

Takuya's eyes widened, surprised by Zoe's sudden gesture. "Thanks for the reassurance, Zee, but I would've been okay with a pat on the back, if it's all the same to you."

Instead of backing off, Zoe brought her face closer to Takuya's, breathing methodically in his ear. Takuya froze, feeling the tingling of her breath course through him. "Zoe…?"

"It's time that you were made happy, Takuya," Zoe murmured softly, a smile playing at the corners of her lips.

Takuya noticed that her smile seemed a little dark, but he didn't have time to mull this over before Zoe drew him closer and pressed her lips tightly against his.

Takuya was instantly paralyzed, frozen with shock. He didn't struggle when Zoe pulled his arms gently, placing them around her neck while still kissing him.

Yes, she was kissing him. Zoe was kissing Takuya. And Kira was watching the whole thing from behind a tree.

—

_JP:_ Wow, sparks sure are flying, aren't they?

_Kouji:_ Sure seems that way.

_Takuya:_ Ugh…

_Tommy:_ Hey, Takuya's coming to!

_Takuya:_ What the hell…what happened?

_madjack89:_ Hey Taki, good news! I fixed your arm!

_Takuya:_ Thanks, but…why are there bandages all over me?

_Dai:_ You had many serious boo-boos!

_Takuya:_ …Boo-boos?

_Shino:_ Madjack finally got to play doctor…

_madjack89:_ Hooray!

_Takuya:_ …Kouji, I blame you.

_Kouji:_ Whatever.

_Zoe:_ Uh, Madjack, I have a few complaints to make about this chapter, the first one being WHAT THE HELL?!

_madjack89:_ File your complaints in chapter thirteen, Zoe. And you guys keep watch for the next pulse-pounding chapter of F2R!


	13. Ch 13: Torn

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 13: Torn**

_madjack89:_ Last time on F2R…

--

_Zoe:_ I'd never given much thought to how I would die.

-

_JP:_ It's 106 miles to Chicago, we got a full tank of gas, half a pack of cigarettes, it's dark, and we're wearing sunglasses.

_Dai:_ Hit it!

-

_Nanami:_ If you go, where shall I go? What shall I do?

_Shino:_ Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.

-

_Duskmon:_ I'll be back.

-

_Wizardmon:_ Avada Kadavra!

-

_Kouji:_ Life is pain. Anyone you says differently is selling something.

-

_Takuya:_ Believe it!

--

_madjack89:_ And now for the thrilling conclusion…after reviews.

_Everyone:_ …

_Kouji:_ Thank you for not hitting me with a Star Wars reference.

_madjack89:_ Trust me, I'll get you later.

-

_GoldenDragon326:_ Yeah, Kira can be a little gullible, but then again, so can Taki! So they're still perfect for each other! And yeah, Kouji probably wouldn't have fallen for it, but he's not there, so we'll just see how it turns out! Thanks for reviewing!

_Aldamonburst:_ Wow, that was freaking hilarious! I could actually see that happening! Ilsemon probably would stab herself! Thanks for the great laugh and thanks for reviewing!

_Dawn of Glory:_ It's not exactly a fake PERSON Zoe, but sorry anyway! And don't get angry, here's your darn update…thanks for the review!

_DigiBleach:_ Aw, no problem, I always answer all my reviews! Glad the drama pleases someone and I'm glad your brother likes my You Tube video! Thank you both!

_apapa155:_ Oh, it's all good, Eva! But wow, Pokémon…wow. Good luck with that! Thanks for the review!

_garnettfox:_ Wow, have fun in Germany! (Say hi to Tokio Hotel for me! lol) I'll check out your updates while you're gone! Thanks for reviewing!

_zandermon:_ I'm sorry, I didn't want to do it to her either! But I gotta get at least some drama in there! Darn, you didn't get my message? I'll have to send it again, I suppose. Thanks for reviewing!

_hazeleyedharmony:_ Sorry…wait, why should I apologize, you got two updates! (lol)  
intro- Hee hee hee…so I'm not the only one who noticed the chocolate inconsistency in the show? I'm gonna make sure that doesn't happen in MY story! If anyone gets hungry, all they'll have to do is ask JP for some chocolate! (_JP: sigh_)  
part 1- Indeed it is, my friend, indeed it is!  
part 2- Chivalry will never die in fictional characters! Never!  
part 3- Yup, very creepy. (And yup, you're right. Not much of a secret anyway.)

_beybladeingninjaprincess:_ Nice reaction! That's probably what Taki's face looks like right about now! Thanks for reviewing!

_fg1fg:_ Well, Kira and Taki were feeling kind of bleh, so we can excuse their inattentiveness! And that was a very bad pun. Thanks for reviewing!

_blossom1animefreak2:_ Hooray, you guys got an account! And we haven't yet made the plans for Taki's funeral, but you never know…anyway, yeah, poor Kira! And Taki! And might as well tell you it's not Zoe because you'll find out now anyway! But yay, Kouichi and Zoe kissed! And yay, I'm your hero! I'm flattered! Thank you! And thanks for reviewing! Yay! (lol)

-

_madjack89:_ Okay, NOW it's time for the thrilling conclusion!

_Zoe:_ Wait, what about my complaints about the last chapter?!

_madjack89:_ Oh yeah…Kouichi, you're her boyfriend, listen to her complaints!

_Kouichi: sigh_

—

"Don't worry, guys, we're back!" Zoe called, approaching her friends with Kouichi in tow. "We must have gotten you pretty worried by how long we were gone."

The others stared at Zoe, confused looks on their faces. "Uh, Zoe, we weren't really worried about you guys at all," JP said, smiling apologetically. "Did you want us to be?"

"You mean you guys didn't even care that we've been gone for hours without a single word?!" Zoe cried, slightly angry and annoyed.

"Well…there weren't any explosions or cries for help, so we figured it was a slow night and you guys were just taking your…sweet time," Shino muttered, struggling with the last two words.

"Zoe, it really isn't that big a deal," Kouichi began, trying to prevent an argument.

"Not even you were worried, Kouji?" Zoe continued, ignoring Kouichi. "You're the paranoid one of the group! What, did you not sense a disturbance in the force?" (Told you, Kouji.)

"If you were Takuya, I'd be angrier, but since it's you, Zoe, I shall keep my composure despite the Star Wars reference," Kouji said, glancing at me. (Ha ha ha!) "However, I will say that yeah, I'm a little paranoid, but it's not like I think of possible horrible things that could be happening when any one of you goes away for periods of time. I'm not that crazy."

Zoe paused, narrowing her eyes at Kouji and his logic. Then she sighed, hanging her head. "You guys were trying to come up with what we could be doing on our own, weren't you?"

"No!" Witchmon replied, shaking her hands and forcing a smile. "Well…maybe."

"It was mostly those two," Kouji added, pointing at Witchmon and JP.

"Bokomon kept covering my ears, so I guess they were coming up with romantic stuff you guys don't want me to hear about yet," Tommy said, glancing at Bokomon sullenly.

"Young man, we can't have you hearing such things," Bokomon replied sternly.

"Yeah, we have to keep someone's innocence alive since we found out Dai's worse than some of us," Kouji added, rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, maybe," Dai muttered, grinning sheepishly.

"I blame anime," Hotaru said, glancing at Dai.

"You know what, guys? You're all perverts," Zoe said, glaring at the group. "What do think Kouichi would do, sweep me up, pull me in, and start a full blown make-out session?"

"Okay, if that really is what you guys thought, now I'm a little insulted!" Kouichi said, blushing but at the same time looking annoyed at the others. _Though that kind of happened...without the full blown part._

"Actually," Witchmon began cautiously, "we sort of thought that you'd start something like that, Zee."

"WHAT?!" Zoe exclaimed, shocked. "How could you guys think I would do something like that? I mean, what am I to you, some slut that goes after every guy she sees with ravenous hunger?!"

—

"You slut!" Kira ran through the forest, leaving that horrible scene behind her. Her boyfriend…Takuya…Taki…was kissing…

"Traitor!" She dashed through a bush then leaped over a log. Her agility wasn't decreasing, only growing. She found this odd, because usually her agility and strength would decrease when she was distraught. Just like that time in that closet when she'd let her guard down.

_You never told me how you felt about your mom's death…_

"Why did you care?!" Kira was getting angrier, hands balling into fists as she ran. "If you hadn't cared, I could have moved on, but you did! Now look where we are! It's your fault, damn it! It's your fault!"

Kira slowed to a stop, adrenaline still pumping. She punched a tree to let some of it go, but all that did was make her knuckles bleed. She winced, surveying the damage to her hand. She smirked, muttering, "And this is only data. Just data. Just fake. Just like half of him. Like half of all of us."

Kira clenched her jaw, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "Are we even real? Were we just created from data and placed in the human world, left to some unlucky families to support? Are we all just fake?"

Kira finally let a tear fall, unable to contain it anymore. "He'd have to be emotionless and fake to betray me that quickly!"

Kira fell to the ground, letting the unbearable pain overtake her. But this time, Takuya wasn't there to make her smile again.

—

"Okay Zoe, that's taking this a little out of proportion, don't you think?" JP said.

Zoe glanced at JP and then at the ground. "Yeah, I guess," she muttered. "I just felt kind of weird knowing you guys thought that I would start something before Kouichi would."

"Oh, we didn't count Chief out completely," Witchmon said, correcting Zoe. "After all, every guy has a true guy side!"

"A guy side?" Kouichi asked, cocking his head.

"I like to call it the pervert lobe," JP said, tapping his head. "You see, when a male goes through puberty, a certain lobe is formed and is attached to his brain. This lobe triggers the dirty, dirty thoughts that his mind has been storing up since he was born. Ergo, the pervert lobe."

Kouichi just stood and stared at JP, speechless.

"Of course, some guy's have a larger one than others, but the same basic principal still applies," JP continued. "Yours is probably pretty darn small, but it's there, every time you look at Zoe."

"You know, that theory actually makes a little sense," Zoe said thoughtfully.

"What?!" Kouichi exclaimed, staring incredulously at Zoe. "You think I'm like that?!"

"Oh, it's alright, Kouichi," Zoe said, grinning. "I just think JP has a huge one is all!"

JP sighed. "Thanks, Zee."

"JP, never become a doctor," Kouji said flatly. (Digital Clue, Kouji.) "Damn!"

While the talk of Kouichi and Zoe's relationship continued, Shino sat in the shadows, listlessly catching bits of the conversation. He bit his lip, trying to force himself to stop feeling so hopeless every time he looked at her. But he couldn't.

_I'm drowning in her_, he thought fearfully. _Just like when I was drowning back then…_

—

He felt as if he were drowning and couldn't find his way back up for air. But finally Takuya regained his bearings and managed to pull back from Zoe. He stared at her for a moment, eyes wide. Zoe smirked back at him and leaned in again.

"No!" Takuya cried, shoving Zoe away from him. She stumbled back a few steps and tripped over a root, falling to the ground.

Takuya watched, not making any move to help her up. He was still trying to process what had happened.

A year ago, this had been a dream of his. He would have given anything to have this moment, but now it was different. Things had changed. Zoe had broken everything just now, shattering it. Shattering him.

"You kissed me," he said, confirming it to himself. "You…kissed…me. You, Zoe, kissed me, Takuya."

"Are you gonna keep repeating it like that before you realize what's going on?" Zoe asked sarcastically, brushing dirt off her pants as she stood. "By the way, it's not very nice for a guy to shove a girl to the ground like that and not even attempt to help her up."

Takuya stared at Zoe for a moment, not knowing what to say. What was there to say? Zoe smirked at Takuya and said, "I was a fool back then, you know?"

"What?" Takuya asked, confused.

Zoe let out a breath and continued. "I didn't see what was right in front of me. I chased after something that I couldn't ever have, and ignored you. Kouji was never meant for me, I knew that. But with you…I shouldn't have rejected you, Takuya. I'm sorry."

Deep inside himself, Takuya knew he was happy about this. What Zoe had said was what he'd always wanted to hear…until a few months ago. "What about Kouichi?" Takuya asked quietly, not sure he wanted to hear the answer.

"I don't know," Zoe replied softly, a tear running down her cheek. "I can't do this to him. It would break him for sure. And I do love him, but I love you, too. What do I do?"

"How should I know?!" Takuya exclaimed angrily, glaring at Zoe. His gaze softened when he saw Zoe flinch. "Sorry," he said, looking down. "But, this is just way too sudden. I mean, you wait until now to realize you like me? When we both already have relationships?"

"Do you love Kira?" Zoe suddenly asked, wiping away her tears and staring hard at Takuya. "Look at me and tell me you love her, Takuya."

Takuya did as she said, staring her straight in the eye. "I do, Zoe. You're too late. I'm in love with Kira, and as far as I'm concerned, this little incident never happened. I'm sorry."

Takuya turned and was about to leave when Zoe grabbed him by the sleeve of his jacket. He turned his head and was about tell Zoe to let go of him when he was suddenly blinded by a pink cloud of powder. He coughed and fell to the ground, feeling slightly faint.

When the cloud finally dissipated, he opened his eyes, seeing Zoe standing over him with a small purple flower in her hand. But as Takuya continued to stare at her, he realized that something was wrong. He was feeling…odd.

Zoe held out her hand and Takuya took it without thinking. Zoe heaved him to his feet and half held him up in his dazed state. "What do you feel?" she asked, smiling cockily.

Finally, Takuya was able to pinpoint the emotion that he felt as he stared at Zoe. He hadn't felt it for her in so long, it had taken him awhile. "Love," he said softly. "I'm in love with you."

"That's right," Zoe said, chuckling. Then she leaned in and kissed him again, not forcefully this time, more like brushing her lips against Takuya's. But this time Takuya brushed back.

That was when Takuya remembered another person's lips, one's he hadn't even tasted yet. "No," he said, turning his head quickly away from Zoe's. "Kira…"

"You're still worried about Kira?" Zoe asked, glancing at the flower in her hand.

Takuya noticed this and asked suspiciously, "Where did you get that flower?"

"I found it," Zoe replied, smiling in a dark way.

"What does it do?" Takuya asked after a moment, glaring at it warily. "What did you do to me?"

Zoe chuckled, looking smug. "There are a lot of interesting things in the Digital World, Takuya. One of them is the powder produced by this flower, which causes temporary feelings of infatuation to the person infected toward the first living being they set their eyes on. Nifty, huh?"

Takuya stared at Zoe, horror-struck. How could she have done this? How could she toy with his emotions like this? He may have a temporary love for Zoe now, but he also still loved Kira, and those feelings were beginning to take their toll.

"Ow," he couldn't help but say, putting a hand to his chest. He could feel himself ripping apart, torn between these two loves.

"Just let go and the pain will go away," Zoe said softly, placing a hand on his shoulder the way she always did with Kouichi.

"Get away!" he cried, turning and dashing through the woods, barely comprehending where he was going, yet at the same time not caring. He just had to get away from her. He had to find Kira. He had to remind himself who he really loved, now.

—

"Guys, is anybody else getting the feeling that something's wrong?" Zoe asked suddenly, sitting by the fire JP had just started.

"Who's sensing a disturbance in the force now?" Kouji said sarcastically. A quick glance from Zoe shut him up, though. (Ha ha!)

"What do you mean by wrong?" Kouichi asked, wanting to take this more seriously.

"Kira and Takuya," she replied, staring out into the forest beyond. "I'm just beginning to get uneasy since they still haven't come back yet."

Suddenly a figure crashed through the trees to their right, skidding to a halt when he realized who was around him. He looked at everyone in the clearing, eyes blood shot and breath coming in short gasps.

"Takuya?" Tommy was the first to speak, cautiously walking up to Takuya. "Are you okay?"

Takuya stared at Tommy for a moment, seeming like he was trying to comprehend what Tommy had said. He didn't say anything, just continued to flick his gaze at everyone.

The others stared warily at Takuya, concerned expressions on their faces. "Hey Taki, you alright?" JP asked, also making his way toward Takuya.

Takuya took a few steps back until his back was against a tree. He looked as if he were being cornered by all of the others with the fearful expression he had.

"Takuya…" Zoe put a hand in front of Bokomon's face before he could continue.

"What did Kira say, Takuya?" Zoe asked. "You did find her, didn't you?"

Zoe's voice seemed to get a bigger reaction from Takuya, for he turned his head and stared at her for a long moment, eyes wide. Then he suddenly sank to the ground and clutched his head tightly in his arms as if he were in pain, resting his arms on his raised knees.

"Just shut up!" he cried, tears streaming down his cheeks now. "It's all your fault! You did this!"

"Takuya, what are you talking about?" Kouji asked, walking over to Takuya and joining JP and Tommy who were already crouched down next to him.

Takuya lifted his head slightly, looking in Kouichi's direction. "I feel so bad for you, Chief. So freaking bad…"

Kouichi narrowed his eyes, giving Takuya a questioning glare. "What is going on, Takuya?"

"Takuya, where's Kira?" Zoe asked, suddenly fearful that Kira was in the same state as Takuya somewhere in the forest.

Zoe's question seemed to set Takuya off again, for he clutched his head tighter and yelled, "Will you just stop talking?! As if seeing you in my head weren't bad enough, now I have to hear you too?!"

Zoe flinched, stung by Takuya's sudden rage. "I…I'm sorry. I didn't mean…"

"JUST SHUT UP!" Takuya screamed, digging his fingers into his hair and straight to his head to try to stop the noise. Then he remembered what was really causing him pain and his hands went to his chest, right where his heart was. He then began to scratch at himself, trying to stop all the pain.

"Takuya, stop!" Kouji said forcefully, grabbing Takuya's arms before he hurt himself.

Takuya went limp for a moment, then flung himself into Kouji's arms, looking for the nearest source of comfort. "I can't, Kouji, I just can't."

Kouji glanced at the others, then wrapped his arms around Takuya. "It's fine, Takuya. Just tell us what happened. You look terrible…" _Is this what the prophecy was talking about? Is Takuya supposed to die now?_

"Is this my fault?" Zoe asked softly, so that no one but Kouichi heard her.

"I'm sure it's not," Kouichi replied, hugging Zoe tightly. "I'm sure it's not…"

—

"What do you want, Zoe?" Kira asked menacingly, getting to her feet and glaring at the girl standing before her. "Come to tell me what a good kisser my boyfriend is? Or did you bring him with you? Hey Taki, how's the Italian slut treating you?"

"Angry much?" Zoe asked sarcastically, chuckling. "As if you didn't know this was coming."

Kira flinched, knowing that Zoe was right. In all honesty, she had expected this, but at the same time she hadn't. She had trusted both Takuya and Zoe. She hadn't thought they would betray her so quickly and easily. _Shows just how much I know,_ she thought bitterly.

"So what do you want now?" Kira asked, getting back to the point. "What else could you possibly take from me?"

"Kira, I'm honestly not here to take anything from you," Zoe said, and because of the kind tone of her voice, Kira almost let herself believe Zoe again. Then she remembered the kiss she saw and her distrust came flooding back.

"What are you going to do, then? Get rid of me so you can have Taki all to yourself?!"

"First of all, I've had just about enough of that ridiculous nickname you gave him," Zoe said, eyes narrowing.

"It didn't seem that ridiculous when you called him that before," Kira retorted smugly.

"Kira," Zoe said through gritted teeth, still trying to keep her cool. "I really didn't want it to be like this. I wanted to tell you in private about us…"

"You think that would have made it better?!" Kira practically screamed. "You stole my boyfriend, Zoe! What could you possibly have said to make that okay?! I love him!"

"Did you even begin to wonder what made Takuya kiss me?" Zoe asked, sounding annoyed now. "It was that distrust you had of him! You didn't believe that he really meant what he said, that he didn't actually have feelings for me and that he really loved you. He came to me for comfort because you made him feel miserable!

"Well, one thing led to another, and finally Takuya let go of the pain you caused him and chose me. And I won't make him miserable like you did." With that, Zoe turned and walked away, leaving Kira behind.

Kira stood there, in the middle of the forest, just letting her tears fall to the ground. She had already known that it was her fault. She had been the one to push Takuya away because she hadn't been willing to trust him. But there was someone else that she shouldn't have trusted all along. One person she had dismissed as being too nice to betray her, too in love with her own boyfriend…

"Zoe," Kira growled menacingly, filling up with hatred at the name. She wanted her revenge. She wanted to make Zoe suffer for taking away her happiness. She wanted Zoe dead.

Suddenly Kira's D-Tector lit up, and she took it out of her pocket. She looked at the screen and saw a new Spirit, revealing itself to help her with her revenge. A Beast Spirit. Her Beast Spirit.

Kira clutched her D-Tector, smiling slowly. "Not yet, baby. Soon you'll get to smash her into little bits, but not yet."

—

_madjack89:_ I sense a cat fight!

_JP:_ A cat fight to the death.

_madjack89:_ Yup!

_Zoe:_ Well, at least now everyone knows that that wasn't really me.

_Kouji:_ Better tell Kira that before she smashes you into a bloody pulp.

_Kouichi:_ She'll have to go through me to get to Zoe.

_Zoe:_ Oh, Kouichi! _hugs_

_Kouichi: blushes_

_Zoe:_ Is there ever going to be a time when I won't make you blush?

_Kouichi:_ In all honesty, probably not.

_Zoe:_ Oh well, it's cute!

_madjack89:_ It is!

_Kouichi: blushes more_

_madjack89:_ Alright, we'll all see what happens next time!

_Shino:_ You were using foreshadowing of my past earlier with me, weren't you?

_madjack89:_ Yup, even you have a slightly dark past, Shino!

_Shino:_ Oh boy, can't wait to expose that.

_madjack89:_ Yup! Alright, laters everybody!

(And feel free to try to name all the references I made in the beginning commentary!)


	14. Ch 14: A Few of My Favorite Things

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 14: A Few of My Favorite Things**

_madjack89:_ Hello, all!

_Takuya and Kira:_ Madjack…

_madjack89:_ Guys, are you mad at me?

_Takuya:_ Always.

_Kira:_ I'm giving you one more chance to redeem yourself.

_madjack89:_ Well, that's something, I guess!

_Shino:_ You know, I think I'm a little mad at you too.

_madjack89:_ Okay, if anyone else is mad at me right now, please speak up!

_Zoe:_ I'm pretty ticked off!

_Kouji:_ I'm wary of you, but not mad yet.

_Kouichi:_ There's no point in getting mad anymore.

_Hotaru:_ Occasionally.

_Dai:_ I don't get mad, I get even!

_Hotaru:_ You never get even.

_Dai:_ Then I do neither! Yay!

_Hotaru: sigh_…

_Tommy:_ You haven't done much to me yet.

_JP:_ Eh, it depends.

_madjack89:_ Well, that's about what I expected, so it's okay!

_Dai:_ Yay!

_madjack89:_ Alright, now that that's taken care of, I've been asked to name all the references I made in the beginning commentary in the last chapter. If you don't remember what they were, go back to chapter thirteen and check. I'll wait.

_Several moments later…_

_madjack89:_ Oh good, you're all back!

_Kouji:_ You didn't have to wait, technically.

_madjack89:_ Shut up, Kouji.

_Kouji:_ One of these days, Madjack…

_madjack89:_ Okay, here's what all the references were from in order: Twilight, Blues Brothers, Gone with the Wind, The Terminator, Harry Potter, The Princess Bride, and Naruto. Congratulations to Jaymon who guessed all but one of them correctly! _claps_

_Everyone else:_ …

_madjack89:_ Clap!

_Everyone else: claps_

_madjack89:_ Yay! Alright, time for reviews!

-

_apapa155:_ Oh, don't worry, Eva, I won't let Kira become a murderer at the age of 13. When she's 16, perhaps…just kidding! And Taki's not dying NOW, so please don't curse me! _does 100 apologetic bows back_ Wow, now I'm dizzy. Thanks for the review!

_beybladeingninjaprincess:_ Hooray for fighting! I've actually been looking forward to putting some tension in the group, too! I'm weird like that! And Star Wars puns just never get old, do they? Especially when they're used on Kouji. (Mua ha ha…) I'm very sorry, but sadly those flowers do not exist anywhere except in the confines of my insane mind (lol). Thanks for reviewing!

_Jaymon:_ Like I said earlier, congratulations, you named almost all of the references! I was really hoping someone would know what Blues Brothers is (because it's amazing)! And long live Star Wars and all the jokes it brings us! Thank you for the review!

_JewelledTears:_ Hooray for Twilight! I expected a lot of people to guess that one! That's an interesting guess about Shino but sadly, I'm not always a very literal person, so I meant he was drowning metaphorically. My bad if I didn't make that clear! And Kouji can't hog the spotlight constantly, plus Hotaru is usually too serious of a person for the funny dialogues and conversations I give the others. But I guess he's the new Hotaru for now! Oh no, Ultra Squid! Grab the children and run! (lol) Thanks for the review!

_GoldenDragon326:_ Ah, irony. Yeah, poor Kira. But yay Star Wars! Yes, Kira's Beast Spirit shall indeed be a blast (possibly a literal one). Awesome, you got those three right! Good job! I'm glad I'm not the only one that watches the Naruto dub (I want Shippuden!). If we're talking about dreams, I've had them with all sorts of characters, but mostly they're with people from Digimon Savers, Naruto, or Buffy the Vampire Slayer (don't ask me why). I'll update as fast as I can, alright? Okay, thanks for reviewing!

_DigiBleach:_ It is cute! I personally think he would do that in the actual show! Hooray, three correct reference identifications! Good job! Man, everybody loves the Star Wars references! If there is ever to be a GOOD Digimon Frontier abridged, I'd have to suggest Star Wars references for Kouji! Alright, thanks for reviewing!

_zandermon:_ Yay cat fight! Looks like we have a bet for Kira in the polls! (lol) I'll get the message to you soon, don't worry. Thanks for the review!

_Aldamonburst:_ Yeah, and apparently a gay b**tard because he made out with Taki. (I officially have a sick mind…) (_JP:_ Pervert lobe…) Shut up, JP. And there will be KoujixOC, we just haven't gotten there yet. (And it's not Zoe, she's with his brother!) Alright, thanks for reviewing, Burst! (Heh heh, Kouji Wan Kanobi!)

_fg1fg:_ Kouji has changed, and emo Kouji won't be here for a little while longer, so be patient! Yay, now everybody has a Beast Spirit and I don't have to worry about it anymore! Hooray! Thanks for reviewing!

_Dawn of Glory:_ Your four guesses are correct! Good job! I'm sorry that I'm being mean to Taki and Kira, but it had to be done…well, actually, I just wanted it to work out like this. I'm so sadistic (though you knew that already)! Now now, don't you two start fighting too, Sakura and Nausicaa! (Sorry Sakura, but I have to agree with Nausicaa. Taki rocks!) Alright, thanks for reviewing!

-

_madjack89:_ Alright, let's get to the chapter and maybe get some of you less angry with me!

_Zoe and Kira:_ We'll see.

—

_"Hey Taki, what's your favorite animal?"_

_Takuya looked up from his ice cream, confused by Kira's seemingly random question. "Where did that come from?"_

_"Eh, just curious," Kira replied, shrugging. After a brief silence, Kira added, "Well, there is another reason I asked you that."_

_Takuya didn't say anything, just stared at Kira curiously. In actuality, he was more frightened than curious. This was the first actual date he'd had with anyone, let alone the critical Kira, and he didn't want to screw it up. She had already paid for the ice cream, after all._

_Kira took a breath and said, "I want to get to know you better, and asking you about your favorite things seemed like a good place to start, so…" Kira glanced at Takuya, waiting for an answer._

_Takuya paused, still staring at Kira. Then he smiled, feeling relieved. _I guess I haven't made an idiot of myself yet,_ he thought. _Though with Kira's personality, I may not be in the clear.

_"So, my favorite animal…" Takuya muttered, pondering Kira's question and pushing his other thoughts to the back of his mind. "I think I'd have to go with…a squirrel."_

_Kira stared at Takuya in disbelief. "A squirrel? Your favorite animal is a squirrel?"_

_"Well, yeah," Takuya said, as if it were obvious. "They're really fast, they're great tree climbers, and they have those awesome bushy tails! If I could, I would get one as a pet!"_

_Kira paused, and then began to laugh hysterically. Takuya glared at her, offended. "What's so funny about that?! You asked me a question, and I answered it!"_

_"It's not the answer, it's you!" Kira replied, loud enough to make several other people in the park turn and stare at her and Takuya._

_Takuya didn't notice them, though. He was too busy trying to figure out what Kira was trying to say. She was laughing at him, but not because of what he'd said? What did that mean? Was he not taking this seriously? Or…?_

_"Taki, stop thinking so hard. I can practically see the smoke coming out your ears." Takuya looked up and saw Kira smirking, but no longer laughing, at him._

_Takuya watched Kira's expression mellow out as she stared at him longer. "You're really freaked out about this, aren't you?" she said, referring to their date._

_Takuya blushed, embarrassed that she'd figured it out. "I am not!" he retorted defensively._

_"Then why are you all red, buddy?" Kira retorted back, mocking Takuya._

_Takuya was about to reply, but decided it wasn't worth it and sighed, lowering his head. "I'm not freaked out, I'm terrified," he said softly._

_After a brief moment of silence, Kira said, "Taki, I was laughing because you're such a huge squirrel fan. I didn't mean to put you down. Sorry."_

_Takuya nodded, not saying anything. Then Kira continued, "You're fun, Taki. That's why I like you so much. This isn't boring at all, it's fun." Kira paused before adding, "You're not doing anything wrong."_

_This perked Takuya up, and after looking at Kira a moment, he smiled. _I'm in the clear!

_"So, what's your next question, Kira?"_

-

Takuya sat on the ground, leaning against a tree. His knees were up and his arms rested on them, hanging limp and lifeless, just like how he felt. His eyes were closed, but he knew his friends were surrounding him, trying to figure out what to do.

"Uh, does anyone not have a clue what the hell is going on, or is that just me?" he heard JP ask sarcastically, probably trying to lighten the mood a bit.

"No, I'm feeling pretty clueless myself," Kouichi said slowly. Takuya could almost picture Kouji nod in agreement while staring curiously at him.

"Well, we know it has something to do with Kira, or else she'd be back by now," Hotaru pointed out, adding his share of dialogue to the discussion.

"And with Zoe," Shino muttered, trying to make it so Takuya wouldn't hear him. But he heard what was said anyway, and once again just the mention of Zoe's name caused him to flinch. At the same time, though, he couldn't help but feel a pang of longing, which just made him feel sicker with himself.

"Jeez, the only way to get a reaction out of him is by mentioning Zee, isn't it?" Witchmon said, sounding a little annoyed. "Hey you little goggle head, just tell us what the hell's going on."

"That won't work, Witchmon." Takuya's eyes shot open when he heard Zoe's voice. He looked up and saw that she was on the other side of the camp, trying to stay as far away from him as possible so she wouldn't cause him harm.

Takuya's eyes narrowed as he continued to stare at Zoe. _But who did this to me in the first place? The little bitch has just been playing all of us this whole time! And Chief…damn it all!_

Zoe noticed Takuya's change in expression and for a moment looked hurt, but quickly pushed her hurt feelings to the back of her mind. "Guys, Witchmon's right," Zoe continued, talking to the others. "Something's wrong with Takuya, and it seems like the best way of figuring out what happened to him is if I talk to him."

"But—" Kouichi began, but Zoe held up her hand to cut him off.

"I know that he thinks I did something or other to him, and all I seem to be doing is making whatever this is worse, but…" Zoe paused briefly, then said with confidence, "if I don't do this, then Takuya will be lost."

For a moment, the clearing was silent. Takuya's expression softened a bit, feeling moved by Zoe's little speech for a moment. Then he remembered what that was an effect of and his expression darkened once more.

Tommy happened to notice Takuya's change in expression, causing him to feel even more unnerved than he already was. "Let Zoe talk to him," Tommy said firmly, surprising everyone.

Zoe smiled slowly at Tommy. "Thank you," she said softly.

Takuya glanced at Tommy, feeling ashamed that he had to see him like this. He wished he could just erase this day and start everything over; go back and get away from Zoe before it had become to late, find Kira…

"Hey, Takuya." Takuya jumped, realizing that Zoe was now crouched down right in front of him. Everyone else was standing about a foot away, tensed as if ready to tackle Takuya if anything went amiss.

Takuya returned his gaze to Zoe, going stiff with apprehension. If she tried to kiss him again, he didn't think he'd be able to stop himself from kissing back. And Kouichi…everyone would be here to witness it.

"You sure are jumpy," Zoe said, chuckling half-heartedly. Takuya didn't respond. Zoe sighed and continued more solemnly, "Listen, Takuya, we just want to help. But if we're going to help you, you have to help us out, too. You have to tell me what's going on so that we can help you. Okay?"

Takuya looked away, trying not to be swayed by Zoe's caring voice that he loved so much. HAD loved so much.

"Kira," he mumbled, shutting his eyes tight.

"What about Kira?" Zoe asked, leaning closer. "Do you know where she is, Takuya?"

Takuya shook his head jerkily, keeping his eyes firmly shut. If he looked at her again, he knew he'd betray something for sure. Then he would look like the bad guy. It would probably fit right into Zoe's plan, whatever that may be.

His strategy shattered when he felt Zoe's hand rest on his shoulder and squeeze it gently. He couldn't help but look up at her and see all that compassion and love in her gaze. It didn't look fake at all. She did care about him.

Before he could stop it, Takuya felt his cheeks grow warmer, and he knew his blush couldn't be mistaken for anything other than what it was; pure infatuation.

Zoe looked confused by his blush, but Takuya had expected that. He glanced quickly at the one person he knew wouldn't confuse this with anything else and would know instantly what this was.

Kouichi was staring at Takuya with a shocked, wide-eyed expression on his face. Then as the realization of what he was seeing kicked in, his expression became more pained and, just as Takuya had feared, betrayed.

"NO!" Takuya clutched his head, lying on the ground with only his elbows propping him up. "Please don't, Kouichi, I'm begging you! I'm sorry! It wasn't my fault!"

"Takuya!"

"What's wrong?"

"Chief, what'd you do?"

Takuya heard bits and pieces of what was being said around him, but they all began to blur as he retreated into himself yet again, overwhelmed by the prospect of betraying one of his best friends.

-

_"Let's see," Kira muttered, pondering her next question carefully. After throwing out the remains of their ice cream, Takuya and Kira had decided to take a stroll through the park together._

_Takuya glanced at Kira, preparing for whatever the next question would be._ With a question like what's your favorite animal, this could be anything!

_"I've got one!" Kira finally declared, stopping abruptly and pointing ceremoniously at Takuya. "Alright, here it is! Takuya, what is your favorite…number?"_

_Takuya stared at Kira exasperatedly. "All that anticipation and showiness for a question like that?" he asked sarcastically._

_"Do not question my methods!" Kira exclaimed, glaring at Takuya huffily. "Just answer the question!"_

_"Alright, alright," Takuya muttered, thinking for a moment. "Um, how about…50."_

_"Why 50?" Kira asked curiously._

_"It's half of 100," Takuya replied. "Plus, it's the number of episodes Digimon Frontier has."_

_"I see," Kira muttered thoughtfully. "Well, I guess if I had to choose, my favorite would be…13."_

_"You picked the unluckiest number ever as your favorite," Takuya said, sighing. "I really wish I understood your punkish way of thinking."_

_"I can't help feeling bad for poor 13 is all," Kira explained. "It's always judged because of the way it looks, just like me."_

_Takuya flinched, realizing that he'd said something completely along those lines without thinking. "I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I didn't mean that about you."_

_Kira smirked. "I know that," she said reassuringly. "You say things without thinking, like me."_

_Takuya mocked annoyance for a moment, then chuckled at Kira. "We're both just pig-headed, I guess!"_

_"And proud of it!" Kira added, holding up her hand for a high five. Takuya smiled and returned it, feeling better and better about this date as it went on._

-

Takuya snapped back to the present, not by choice, but by the sudden downpour of water that seemed to have come out of nowhere. He uncurled himself slowly and looked at everyone else. But they weren't paying the slightest bit of attention to him anymore, and when he looked in the same direction they were, he found out why.

Ranamon was standing on the far side of camp, a look of pure anger and hatred on her face. Takuya shivered, frightened by her expression. It was way too dark for Kira. It wasn't in her nature.

Takuya glanced back at his friends, noticing that they were all soaked. He was soaked as well, but he had thought that was because Kira had exclusively attacked him. When he saw the others, he realized that Kira had attacked all of them. But…that didn't make sense. What had the others done?

"Uh…" JP began uncomfortably, being the first to speak. "Not to be rude or anything, Kira, but have you gone insane like Takuya?"

"JP!" Witchmon hissed, elbowing JP in the side. "This is serious," she muttered, for once being completely serious.

"I'm not insane, and I guess this is serious," Ranamon suddenly said, turning everyone's attention back to her. She smirked at their confused expressions until she noticed Takuya sitting behind the others, looking worse for wear.

Takuya saw her expression soften for just a second when looking at him, then harden again into that frighteningly evil look. "Hey Taki," she said softly, though not nicely. It actually sounded like a threat.

"Kira." Takuya got to his feet, not once taking his eyes off of Kira. He was afraid that if he did, she would disappear, and this Kira was better than no Kira.

"Kira, what happened?" Zoe suddenly said, causing both Takuya and Ranamon to turn their heads and look at her. "Why are you two acting like this?" Zoe continued. "And…how am I involved?"

Suddenly Ranamon began to laugh hysterically, almost in a crazy way. The others stared at her warily. JP lifted his finger and began to twirl it near his temple, glancing at everyone else. "JP!" they hissed angrily.

"Oh man, Zee, you are a good actress, I'll give you that much!" Ranamon finally said, still chuckling slightly. "But wow, what in the world did you do to Taki? You're calling me insane, but just look at him!"

"Kira!" Zoe yelled, beginning to get angry. "I'm sick of all this crap you two are giving me! I haven't done freaking anything! I have no clue what any of this is about!"

Ranamon stared curiously at Zoe for a moment. Then, smiling sadly, she said, "So you want me to tell them what happened, huh? Fine." She glanced around the clearing at everyone, pausing for effect. "Alright, I'm not gonna give a big long speech, cause that's just not my thing. I'll just come out and say it; Zee kissed Taki, in front of me, and now it's payback time."

With that, Ranamon attacked. "Draining Rain!"

Suddenly everyone's vision was blurred by a massive amount of water dropping down on their heads. Takuya fell to the ground, knocked into a state between consciousness and unconsciousness. Before he slipped into another of his memories, he saw Ranamon step up to Zoe and grab her by the collar of her shirt, lifting her into the air.

-

_"Okay Kira, I think that my favorite color would be obvious," Takuya said, smirking._

_"I know," Kira said, sighing. "I've run out of things to ask."_

_"Well, that's good timing considering we're at your apartment," said Takuya, stopping and looking at the apartment complex where Kira lived. _

_Suddenly a rat scurried out from under the stairs leading to the front door. Takuya yelped, jumping back a pace as the rat ran past him and made its way down the darkening street._

_Takuya stared at Kira, wide-eyed. "Your apartment is rat infested?"_

_"Occasionally," Kira mumbled, looking down. "We've learned to deal with them."_

_"Kira, rats are disease ridden!" Takuya said exasperatedly. "You could get sick! Why didn't you tell me about this?"_

_"I'm sorry," Kira muttered. "But I didn't want you to worry."_

_Takuya paused, his anger subsiding after that comment. "Kira, you can tell me anything," he said softly. "If you ever have a problem, I want to know about it so I can help you. Don't bottle everything up."_

_Kira looked up at Takuya, moved by what he'd said. Then she hugged Takuya tightly, smiling. "Thanks, Taki," she said._

_Takuya hugged her back, happy that she was starting to trust him. He never wanted to betray her trust. He never wanted to hurt her. When it all came down to it, Kira was Takuya's favorite thing._

_"No Kira. Thank you."_

—

_madjack89:_ And cut!

_Takuya and Kira:_ How is that supposed to get us less mad at you!

_madjack89:_ Just be patient! You can't rush things like this!

_Kouji:_ Hey, wait a second, I didn't get any lines in this chapter at all!

_madjack89:_ So?

_Kouji:_ Hotaru got a line!

_Dai:_ I didn't get any lines either!

_madjack89:_ There's an explanation for that! Uh…Kouji is pondering the prophecy and blah blah blah, and Dai…is confused!

_Dai:_ About what?

_madjack89:_ You're not good with women issues.

_Dai:_ Well, I guess that is my Achilles Heel.

_Witchmon:_ You have problems with your heel, too! God, you're sickly…

_Dai:_ …

_Shino:_ Witchmon, someday you're gonna have to learn the meaning of tact.

_Witchmon:_ The meaning of what?

_madjack89:_ Alright, time to end the chapter!

_Kouji:_ I didn't even get to call JP an idiot, and there were two golden opportunities!

_JP:_ Hey!


	15. Ch 15: Changes

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 15: Changes**

_madjack89:_ Hello, hello, hello…I am your beloved Madjack89.

_Kouji:_ That's an appropriate reference, considering that this story is just like a series of unfortunate events.

_Takuya:_ All we need is a baby that speaks gibberish, yet everyone seems to know what she's saying.

_JP:_ God no, that's way too close to Pokémon.

_Takuya:_ That's true.

_Kira:_ When do I get to kick ass with my Beast Spirit, Madjack?

_madjack89:_ Soon Kira, don't worry.

_Zoe:_ Hey, it's my ass you're kicking!

_Kira:_ Well, maybe Kouichi will step in and I'll end up kicking his ass.

_Kouichi:_ …

_madjack89:_ Hey Dai!

_Dai:_ Yeah?

_madjack89:_ What time is it?

_Dai:_ Summer time!

_madjack89 and Dai: _It's our vacation!

_Kouji:_ For the love of god, just answer reviews!

_madjack89:_ Fine.

-

_Aldamonburst:_ Don't worry, Calmaramon's coming. And I did not know the spirit's opposites. (The light and dark one's kind of obvious, though.) Thanks for sharing!

_apapa155:_ Aw, poor Eva! Just hang in there, baby! (lol) Thanks for reviewing and thanks for the brownies!

_hazeleyedharmony:_ Who are you? (lol) Just kidding! I figured you must be busy, what with graduation and all that. (Oh god, I graduate this year!) Yay for drama! You just gotta love it! Thank you for reviewing! (Even if it's short! I don't mind!)

_GoldenDragon326:_ Ah, Kira and Taki, those lovable scamps! I love writing about them! Thank you for the review! (And I'm glad you liked the end commentary!)

_DigiBleach:_ Ha ha, suspense! It might make a funny event, though Taki's a bit incapacitated at the moment. Plus he's a little reluctant to admit what happened. Thanks for reviewing, and don't be sorry for the paragraph, I like paragraphs!

_garnettfox:_ Yay, you're back! Hope Germany was fun! Sorry about the sunburn, but have fun at camp! And that's a bit harsh to grab popcorn and watch Zoe die, but that's your decision! Thanks for reviewing!

_fg1fg:_ Don't worry, Calmaramon's coming, you'll see. In the meantime, hooray squirrels! And how ironic, my dad's favorite animals are rhinos! We always have to go find the rhinos when visiting zoos! Oh my god, space pandas! (lol) Let's see, my favorite animals are probably…bats! Wolves come in close second! Especially werewolves (they're my favorite supernatural creatures)! Alright, I've rambled enough! Thanks for reviewing!

_Dawn of Glory:_ Yeah, poor them. And yes, Kira is quite a violent girl. Poor Zoe. Hey, it's not nice to tell people they suck, Sakura! And you're my favorite OC! Oh well, Kouji insults me all the time, so I can handle it! Thanks for reviewing!

-

_madjack89:_ Alright Dai, now what time is it?

_Dai:_ Party time!

_madjack89, Dai, and Witchmon:_ That's right, say it loud!

_Kouji:_ That's it, I'm starting the chapter.

—

"Kira," Zoe managed to gasp through her struggle to breathe. Ranamon just glared at her and continued to hold her in the air by the front of her shirt.

Zoe closed her eyes, beginning to get dizzy from all the dots she was seeing. _This is it_, Zoe thought, finally realizing the predicament she was in. _And of all people, Kira is going to kill me, because she thinks I kissed…_

Suddenly, Ranamon released her grip on Zoe's shirt, causing Zoe to fall with a thump to the ground. Zoe opened her eyes and waited until everything got less blurry to sit up and see what had caused Kira to change her mind.

What she saw was Kouichi standing with his arms out in front of him, with Ranamon lying on the ground near him. Zoe realized that he must have shoved Ranamon to the ground in order to save her.

But Kouichi didn't look like he was in good shape. A few seconds after Zoe recognized him, his arms fell to his sides and he started breathing hard. Zoe noticed he looked fatigued and realized that Ranamon's attack had taken its toll.

Ranamon noticed this too, and quickly hopped to her feet. She then grabbed Kouichi's shoulders, hard because it caused Kouichi to clench his teeth, and pulled him until she was right in his face.

She wasn't angry, though, for her expression had softened. "Chief, out of everyone, I thought you'd be the most understanding," she said so softly that Zoe couldn't hear. "She betrayed you along with me. If anything, you should be helping me."

"Is it true?" Kouichi asked immediately following Ranamon, eyes downcast. Zoe did hear this, and was both shocked and hurt. Did Kouichi not trust her?

"Why else would I do this?" Ranamon said in answer.

Kouichi paused, closing his eyes. Zoe held her breath, hoping that Kouichi would know better than to think that of her. Finally he said, "When?"

"What?" Ranamon asked, looking as surprised as Zoe felt.

"When?" Kouichi repeated. "When did Zoe and Takuya kiss? You must have witnessed it, right?"

Ranamon frowned and said, "I don't see how this would have any significance, but it was tonight. A little while ago, actually."

Kouichi smiled, seemingly happy with this answer. "In that case," he began, lifting his head to stare at Ranamon, "it couldn't have been Zoe."

"What are you talking about? I know what I saw!" Ranamon said, beginning to get angry again.

"Then you were tricked," Kouichi said calmly. "Zoe hasn't left my sight all night. But I will admit that she kissed someone tonight." Here Kouichi paused and glanced at Zoe. "She kissed me."

Zoe stared at Kouichi, eyes shining. He did trust her! He was trying to get Kira to realize that nothing had happened between her and Takuya.

Ranamon didn't seem convinced, though. "Liar!" she exclaimed, releasing Kouichi, clenching her fist, and punching Kouichi square in the mouth.

"Kouichi!" Zoe cried fearfully as Kouichi fell to the ground.

"I'm fine," he said reassuringly, getting slowly to a sitting position. He wiped the blood off his lip and said to Ranamon, "I'm not lying."

"Yeah you are!" Ranamon cried, seething with anger now. "Zoe said you're too bashful to kiss her!"

Kouichi turned to Zoe and said flatly, "You said I was too bashful?"

"Kinda," Zoe muttered sheepishly.

"Then again," Ranamon continued, ignoring Kouichi and Zoe's conversation, "Zoe could have just lied to me then, too. As far as I know, I've been lied to from the beginning!"

"Kira, that's ridiculous!" Zoe said, finally speaking up. "And Kouichi's telling the truth. I kissed him, not Takuya."

"Shut up!" Ranamon yelled, clenching her fists. "Stop lying and show yourself for who you really are!"

Before Ranamon could make a move toward Zoe, Kouichi grabbed Ranamon from behind, holding her arms back.

"Let go!" Ranamon said, squirming around to try and break free. "Damn, you're stronger than you let on!"

"I'll take that as a compliment," Kouichi said sarcastically. He then turned to Zoe and said, "Get out of here now."

Before Zoe could protest, Kouichi added, "She's just getting angrier with you here. She needs to calm down so she can think clearly."

"And you don't want me getting hurt," Zoe muttered.

"That too," Kouichi said softly, looking away.

Suddenly, Ranamon broke free from Kouichi's grip. She smirked as he stumbled back, looking surprised. "You got distracted," she said simply, shoving him against the nearest tree.

Ranamon held Kouichi with one hand and curled her other hand into a fist, ready to finish what she'd started. But before she could pummel him, Zoe yelled, "Wait!"

Ranamon paused, turning to look at Zoe. "What?" she asked coldly.

"Don't take your vendetta against me out on Kouichi," Zoe said, taking her D-Tector out of her pocket. "Fight me."

"Zoe, don't!" Kouichi exclaimed.

"Quiet!" Ranamon growled, slamming him hard against the tree and not once taking her eyes off Zoe. "Alright," she said as Kouichi sank to the ground behind her. "Let's fight."

"If I win you'll admit that you're wrong," Zoe said, expressing the terms while trying not to glance too anxiously at Kouichi.

"And if I win you'll admit I'm right," Ranamon retorted cockily.

"Deal," Zoe agreed, preparing to Spirit Evolve. "Let's fight."

—

Meanwhile, Kouji was struggling back into consciousness. It had taken him a moment to figure out what had happened, but he was able to clear his hazy thoughts and realize that Kira had attacked everyone.

She had said it was because Zoe and Takuya had kissed.

Kouji forced his eyes open, though it took him a minute to comprehend his surroundings. When he did, he realized that he was lying on his side at camp, soaked to the bone from Ranamon's attack. Around him lay his either unconscious or very dazed friends.

He sat up as quickly as he could make himself, observing his surroundings more closely. He realized then that both Kouichi and Zoe were missing.

He was about to jump up and search for his brother and Zoe when he noticed something else in the clearing.

Tommy was on his knees and looked to be the most alert of everyone. But it was the person lying in front of Tommy that captured Kouji's attention.

Takuya lay before Tommy, looking still and peaceful. Too still and peaceful.

Kouji approached the two slowly, afraid of what he might see. _Please Kira, please tell me you didn't…_

He stopped abruptly when he saw that Tommy was crying softly while staring at Takuya.

"No." Kouji's knees buckled, and he let himself fall with a thump to the ground. He stared at his hands as they began to tremble. "I'm too late."

"Wattur you guys so worked up about?" Both Kouji and Tommy's heads shot up, surprised by JP's slightly slurred question.

JP was sitting on the other side of Takuya, looking curiously at him. "He just got knocked out," he continued, regaining his senses. "You guys are acting like he died or something."

Kouji took a closer look at Takuya and realized JP was right. Takuya's chest was moving up and down as he breathed. He'd even started to twitch slightly as if he were having a nightmare.

Kouji sighed with relief, earning a curious stare from JP. "And I repeat my question," JP said. "What are you guys so worked up about?"

Tommy answered before Kouji could. "I'm scared," he said quietly, taking a shaky breath. "Takuya's scaring me even more than when he Beast Spirit Evolved for the first time. At least I knew how to handle that. Now I don't know what to do."

He paused to take another big breath. "And now I'm crying like a stupid kid because I don't understand any of this."

"It's called love," JP said suddenly, stopping Tommy. "You don't understand because you've never been in love. Right, Kouji?"

Kouji shrugged, not really getting what JP meant.

"Okay," JP began, ready to explain himself. "I've got a theory…that it's a demon."

"JP," Kouji growled, stopping his reference.

"Alright, alright," JP mumbled, getting back to business. "I do have a theory, though, and here it is.

"From what we've witnessed tonight, we can deduce that something has occurred between three people: Takuya, Zoe, and Kira. What actually occurred is between those three, but Kira has revealed that Zoe and Takuya supposedly kissed. Here's the problem: where's Kouichi? He and Zoe were together out in the woods, so where does he factor into the equation?"

Kouji realized that JP made a valid point. "He would have to have been there, but…"

"But then why didn't he seem to know anything about it?" JP finished, growing excited.

"He could have kept it to himself," Hotaru said, suddenly popping up next to Kouji along with Dai.

"He wouldn't keep something like that from us," Dai said firmly, taking an impromptu snapshot of Kouji. "Ha, you look funny when you're glaring sideways, Kouji!"

"Well, was he keeping something from us or not, Koj?" Witchmon asked, joining the conversation. "Did you sense anything with your freaky telekinetic twin powers?"

"I thought you were all out of it," Kouji said through clenched teeth.

"I thought we were, too," Neemon said.

"Your conversation seems to have snapped us out of it," Bokomon replied, ignoring Neemon.

"Well, first of all, I do not have freaky telekinetic twin powers!" Kouji said angrily. "But no, nothing seemed wrong with Kouichi before, in a hiding the truth sense or otherwise. He actually seemed really happy."

"Exactly!" JP exclaimed. "So here's what I think: Takuya didn't actually kiss Zoe."

"I did, alright!" Takuya suddenly yelled, sitting up and glaring at JP. "She kissed me, and I kissed her back! Happy?!"

Kouji flinched involuntarily. He wasn't used to Takuya acting like this. It was a bit frightening. But still…

"Takuya, what the hell happened?" Kouji asked, staring at Takuya coldly. "There's no point in hiding it anymore, so just spit it out."

Takuya glared angrily at Kouji for a second, then sighed. "Alright, here's what happened. Zoe contacted me on her D-Tector and asked how to get back here to camp. Then later, I was looking for Kira, cause she ran away, and Zoe showed up to help me out. Then we kissed. Satisfied now?"

"Would there be a reason for said smooching?" Witchmon asked.

"She came on to me," Takuya mumbled, looking down. "I guess…I just…god, I'm an idiot!" Takuya put his head in his hands, making it clear he wasn't explaining any more.

"Zoe came on to Takuya?" Shino said, suddenly speaking up. "That doesn't really sound like her, you know? Maybe JP has a point."

"Indeed I do, Shino," JP said, excited once more after being interrupted by Takuya. "And you're quite right. We all know Zoe. She wouldn't suddenly just 'come on' to Taki. She's just not like that.

"So here's my theory," JP continued, finally leading up to his conclusion. "Zoe has…an evil twin!"

For a moment, all the others, including Takuya, did was stare at JP as if he were crazy. Then Kouji said, "JP, you've reached a new level of idiocy today. Congratulations."

"Is it really that hard to imagine?" JP retorted smugly, smirking at Kouji.

"Okay, come on! That happened one time!" Kouji yelled angrily.

"Besides, Zoe has both her parents," Hotaru said.

"Kouji only had his dad and Kouichi only had his mom," Dai added.

"Aw, c'mon! I have a good theory!" JP said defensively. "At least Shino agrees with me, right?"

"Uh, I was actually thinking that maybe there was a shape-shifting Digimon causing trouble," Shino muttered, feeling a little embarrassed at being put on the spot.

"Well, for your information, there is no such thing as a shape-shifting Digimon," JP replied, crossing his arms defiantly. "Right, Bokomon?"

"Actually, I believe that Shino makes a good point," Bokomon said, taking out his great big book of everything (with everything inside!). "I have heard of a certain type of Digimon that is able to change its shape."

"What?" JP asked flatly, his earlier confidence draining out of him. "Why did we never hear about it?"

"I thought they were extinct," Bokomon replied, searching for a certain page in his book.

"Digimon can go extinct?" Tommy asked, confused. "But they can just come back as a Digi-Egg every time they're killed, right?"

"Well, yes, that is true," Bokomon said, still searching. "But if you destroy a Digi-Egg, you destroy the Digimon in the Digi-Egg and, in essence, kill the Digimon. But it is a serious crime for a Digimon to destroy a Digi-Egg. Only a truly demonic Digimon would commit that crime."

"A Digimon like the ones we're fighting against?" Kouji asked slightly sarcastically.

"Yes, I suppose so," Bokomon said, finally stopping on the page he wanted. "Here it is. It's called Hallucimon, and it is able to change its shape to be any being it has seen before."

"Okay, so it might be this Hallucimon," JP said, still feeling optimistic about his initial thought. "But you said they were extinct."

"Well, we may have found a survivor," Bokomon snapped, glaring at JP. "They were wiped out long ago, after they realized that their power was nearly unmatched thanks to their abilities and tried to take over the Digital World."

"Does everyone try to take over the Digital World?" JP muttered, rolling his eyes.

"According to the book," Bokomon continued, "Hallucimon rarely ever take their real shapes, instead choosing to live in the guise of other creatures. Most, though, usually choose their favorite shape and live as that all their lives."

"Alright, so we may have a rough Hallucimon on the loose," Witchmon said. "How do we find the stupid thing?"

"We could ask it nicely to tell us if it's Hallucimon," Neemon suggested.

"And what would make you think that would work?!" Bokomon cried, exasperated. "They were wiped out years ago! It's probably been in hiding for thousands of years!"

"Until now," Kouji said. "What would make it do all this? Why would it go to all this trouble?"

"Ha!" JP cried triumphantly. "There's no way it would blow its cover like this!"

"I was tricked?" Everyone turned at the sudden sound of Takuya's voice. Takuya was staring at his hands, eyes wide and confused-looking.

"Look out!" Kouji turned abruptly, as did the others.

"Kouichi?" Kouji said, recognizing his brother running toward them. "What are you—?"

"I said look out!" Kouichi repeated, just as Kazemon and Ranamon burst through the trees, Ranamon aiming a column of water at Kazemon. Kazemon quickly dodged the blast and it ended up soaking the others. They then disappeared into the trees again, leaving everyone drenched in the clearing.

"You know," JP muttered, coughing out some water he'd swallowed, "I'm beginning to see a pattern with this."

"Kouichi, I kind of hate to ask, but what the hell is going on?" Kouji asked, glancing at his brother.

"Kira and Zoe are fighting," Kouichi explained, sighing. "I tried to get Kira to calm down, but we all know how that always turns out. Then Zoe challenged her to a fight and…there you have it."

"Well then, we have some good news!" Witchmon exclaimed, gesturing to Bokomon. "We've found a certain type of Digimon that can shape-shift in the book, and we think that's what kissed Taki, not Zoe! Yay!"

"I knew it couldn't have been Zoe," Kouichi said firmly. "She was with me all night. But was it really a Digimon? I mean, do we have any proof?"

"Well, not quite," Witchmon muttered, her excitement diming.

"But who else could it have been?" Shino pointed out. "What else but a shape-shifter would be able to make itself look completely like Zoe?"

"Maybe it was a mirage or illusion, like on Naruto," JP said. "Genjutsu or something."

The others stared at JP incredulously. "Genjutsu?" Kouji asked flatly.

"It could happen," JP replied, crossing his arms. "Maybe…"

While the others continued the debate, Dai was concentrating hard on a shape he thought he'd seen move in the trees. After a long moment of no movement, Dai thought he might have imagined it. Then he saw it again. A sleek black shape. A black cat, eyes trained on his friends in the clearing, as if it were watching them. Stalking them. Like prey.

"Hotaru," Dai whispered, not taking his eyes off the cat.

Hotaru turned to Dai, glancing at him questioningly. Dai put his finger to his mouth, then pointed at the cat. Hotaru stared intently at the spot before he too saw the cat. He turned to Dai, and they nodded at each other, making an unspoken plan.

Hotaru slowly got up and walked quietly into the woods, going unnoticed by everyone else since they weren't paying the slightest bit of attention to Dai or Hotaru. Luckily, neither was the cat.

Hotaru crept through the trees, trying to get behind the cat by making a wide route. He stopped a few feet behind the cat, hoping it didn't glance over at him as it continued to stalk.

Then he leaped forward, arms outstretched. The cat turned when it heard rustling, but it was too late to run, because a second later Hotaru was on top of it, grabbing it tightly in his arms.

"Mrrrow!" the cat exclaimed, hissing and clawing at Hotaru's arms. Hotaru winced, but didn't let go as he got back to his feet.

Everyone else stared curiously at Hotaru as he brought the clearly angry cat into the clearing. "Way to go, Hotaru!" Dai exclaimed, feeling victorious. "Now try to hold him still for a second so I can get a good picture."

"That might be a little hard, Dai," Hotaru said through his teeth as the cat embedded its claw into his forearm. "Son of a bitch!" (Hey, that might be Hotaru's first cuss. Yay!) "I'm in pain!" (Oh…sorry!)

"Uh…what is that thing?" Witchmon asked, staring curiously at the hissing creature instead of trying to help Hotaru control it.

"That would be a very pissed off cat," Kouji explained, jumping up along with Kouichi, Shino, and JP to help Hotaru.

"Ha ha, rope!" JP exclaimed, taking out his handkerchief rope with a flourish. The twins (for some reason it feels awkward to call them that) each grabbed one of the cat's two front paws, Kouji unsticking the cat's left paw from Hotaru's arm. JP then used his rope to tie the cat's paws together tightly. But this cat was quite intelligent, and stuck its left hind paw into Hotaru's other arm.

"For the love of god, someone take the freaking cat already!" Hotaru cried, shoving the cat into Shino's arms. Hotaru let his arms go limp while Shino held the cat out at a distance.

"Guys, why did you tie up the cat instead of just letting it go?" Tommy asked quizzically.

"Because Hotaru caught it, so it must have some special meaning," JP replied, shrugging. "Hey Chief, take the cat from Doctor Shino so he can tend to Hotaru's bleeding cat wounds."

"My mother being a doctor does not automatically make me one too, JP," Shino muttered, handing the cat gingerly over to Kouichi.

"Well, you did bring the medical supplies," JP said with a smirk.

Shino rolled his eyes and sighed, grabbing the first aid bag and searching for some Bacitracin…and maybe a band aid. (Wow, I'm going crazy with references, aren't I?)

"Alright, so why did you go after the devil cat?" Kouji asked Hotaru while Bokomon examined it from a safe distance.

"Dai noticed it in the trees," Hotaru said, holding out his arm for Doctor Shino. (Ha ha!)

Shino glared at me as Dai explained, "I saw something move in the forest and realized it was a cat. That made me wonder why a regular old cat would be in the Digital World. Then I remembered that we were looking for a shape-shifting Digimon, and thought the cat might actually be a Digimon!"

"Dai may be correct," Bokomon mused, studying the cat. "I've never seen a creature quite like this before."

"They're pretty common in the human world," Kouji said. "But doesn't a Hallucimon need to see a shape before it can assume that shape?"

"It would have to have gone to the human world," Shino said slowly, realizing something. "What if a Hallucimon is working for Ilsemon?"

During this conversation, Takuya had begun to stare at the tethered cat, who had relaxed so as not to waste its energy. The cat noticed Takuya's gaze and gazed back, eyes gleaming. Takuya was transfixed with horror when he saw the cat smirk distinctly. Then it said loud enough for everyone to hear, "Hello Takuya. Nice night for a little revenge killing, isn't it?"

—

Kazemon dodged another blast of water, nearly running into a tree in the process. She knew it was stupid of her to fly this fast in a forest filled with trees, but she had to keep Kira on her tail, away from the others. She wouldn't let them get hurt for something Kira thought she'd done.

"Get back here and fight!" Ranamon yelled angrily, sprinting after Kazemon.

Kazemon glanced back and realized that her plan was backfiring. Instead of cooling down, Kira's anger was intensifying as she pursued the chase. Kazemon swerved between the trees, hoping to slow Kira down for at least a second. She was getting tired of running.

Ranamon wasn't, though. "I don't think so, Zee! Draining Rain!"

A giant storm cloud appeared over the trees Kazemon flew under, and Kazemon realized that she couldn't dodge it. She had to take the hit and hope the trees would block part of the attack.

The water came fast and swift, so swift that it crashed right through the leaves of the trees without loosing much speed. Kazemon felt as if a tanker had landed on her as she crashed to the ground, the water still coming down in torrents. She remembered how this attack had felt two years ago, when Ranamon had been an enemy. It looked as if Ranamon had become the enemy again.

Then the water stopped as swiftly as it had come, leaving Kazemon lying in a heap on the ground, Fractal Code glowing. Ranamon approached Kazemon, showing no emotion. She glared at Kazemon for a few minutes, saying nothing.

Finally Kazemon managed to push herself up with her hands and get to her feet, grasping a tree for support. Then she said, "Kira, I didn't do anything. Please believe me."

"Why should I?" Ranamon asked, still glaring at Kazemon with malice. "I saw it happen. You know I did. You probably wanted me to see."

"You're wrong," Kazemon said, a tear of frustration rolling down her cheek. "Why can't you just trust me? I've done nothing! Why can't you see that?"

"Because I can't trust you, Zee!" Ranamon cried angrily, shaking with rage. "I've changed in the last few hours. I see the truth now. You just wanted me to be in your stupid group because I had Ranamon's Spirit. You were nice to me and knew just the right words to say, just the right phrases to sugar-coat. You did it with Kouji, you did it with Kouichi, and you tried to do it with me. You pretended to be my friend, then stole the one happiness I had. You lied to me!"

"I didn't kiss Takuya!" Kazemon cried in desperation. "I would never do that to you, don't you see that? You're the best friend I've had in a long time."

Ranamon smirked at Kazemon's statement. "You had the guys."

"They're different," Kazemon said, smiling to herself. "They're all such great guys, and they're so nice to me, but there will always be a part of them that I can't connect to, and they can't connect to a part of me. The fact is that I'm a girl and they're boys, and girls and boys just aren't the same.

"But Kira," Kazemon continued, smiling now at Ranamon, "you're different than that. You gave me something I wished I had for years; a friend who I could relate to and confide in. With boy things, with girl things, I could just tell you anything. I don't want that to end. So please…believe me."

Ranamon gave Kazemon a long look before saying, "We can't go back to that, Zoe. Like I said, I've seen the truth. I will make you go back to the others and confess what you did and beg me for forgiveness. Then maybe, just maybe, I'll forgive you."

"Kira—" Kazemon began. Ranamon held up her hand to cut Kazemon off. In her hand she held her D-Tector, which was glowing. Kazemon looked closer at the D-Tector, then gasped when she saw what was on the screen. "Kira, don't! Please!"

"Let's see what other changes I can go through tonight," Ranamon said, smiling darkly. "Ranamon Slide Evolution: Calmaramon!"

—

_madjack89:_ And so all the Beast Spirits I care about have made their appearances! And I got to torture Hotaru a little!

_Hotaru: glares_

_madjack89:_ So…anybody less mad at me now?

_Everyone:_ No!

_Kira:_ Well actually, scratch that. I'm pretty happy that I finally got my Beast Spirit!

_JP:_ Please don't let her see herself in a pond reflection or something.

_Shino:_ Why not?

_Kouichi:_ Trust me, it's not a pretty sight.

_Dai:_ I'm gonna take Calmaramon's picture when I see her!

_Kouji:_ Please don't.

_Dai:_ Why not?

_Kira:_ Yeah, why not immortalize my Beast Spirit in picture form?

_Takuya:_ Kira, just…stay away from reflective surfaces. That includes Mercurymon.

_Hotaru: glares_

_Kira:_ You guys sure do seem nervous about my Beast Spirit…that must mean it rocks!

_Kouji:_ …Yeah, sure.

_madjack89:_ Alright, let's end the chapter before Kira gets on the internet and finds a picture of her Beast Spirit.

_Kira:_ You're letting me do that?

_madjack89:_ No.

_Kira:_ Aw…

_madjack89:_ See ya later, amigos and chums!


	16. Ch 16: The Red

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 16: The Red**

_madjack89:_ Guess who's back from the beach!

_Kouji:_ …You?

_madjack89:_ Thaaaat's right! And I come bearing a new chapter of F2R, in which I bring all this Kira/Taki drama to a close!

_Takuya:_ I don't know whether to be happy or nervous.

_Dai:_ Be both!

_madjack89:_ That's the spirit!

_Takuya: sigh_

_madjack89:_ Anyway, today in this commentary, I have decided to answer the request of one of the reviewers!

_Everyone:_ Oh god…

_Kouji:_ If I hear the words Star or Wars…

_madjack89:_ Actually, this request has more to do with Kouichi than anyone else.

_Kouichi:_ Me?

_JP: _Well Chief, it's been nice knowing you.

_Kouichi: grows pale_

_madjack89:_ Oh, calm down guys, I just invited a guest to the commentary is all! He should be here any minute!

_Kouji:_ Who exactly is this guest?

_Voice: _Hello Madjack.

_Kouichi:_ Oh no, I know that voice.

_madjack89:_ That's right! I invited Itachi to today's commentaries! Yay!

_Itachi:_ …

_madjack89:_ Say hi to all the nice peoples, Itachi!

_Itachi: _Hello.

_Kouichi:_ It just had to be Itachi…it couldn't have been anyone else voiced by Crispin Freeman. Someone harmless, like Kyon.

_madjack89:_ It was a request!

_Itachi:_ Speaking of requests, I was told to tell you something, Kouichi. Come here.

_Dai:_ Don't look in his eyes! Especially if they start spinning!

_Shino:_ And some people have called Digimon weird.

_Kouichi: shuffles slowly over to Itachi _What is it?

_Itachi: leans closer to Kouichi _You lack hatred.

_Kouichi: …eye twitches_

_madjack89:_ Time for reviews!

-

_apapa155:_ Isn't that person from Bleach the midget with white hair? I only know he's voiced by Steve Staley (I have yet to watch Bleach). Go ahead and like him, he's got the same voice actor as Kouji! (lol) Anyway, I'm not killing anyone, okay? Everyone always worries that I'm gonna kill the characters off. Thanks for reviewing!

_DigiBleach:_ Kouichi's just the type of guy to risk his neck for others, especially Zoe! I was very surprised that almost everyone was anticipating this moment that Calmaramon would show up. She has more fans than we thought! (lol) Thanks for reviewing! Believe it!

_Dawn of Glory:_ Sorry about the cliffhanger! I can't help it! And I don't think you're that bad! (From one sadist to another.) I'll take that! _grabs picture and burns it_ She'll find out what she looks like near the end of the chapter. I…AM…NOT…KILLING…ZOE! Sorry, everyone just keeps telling me not to kill people. I'll send you a list of the references I used in the last chapter, okay? Thanks for the review!

_GoldenDragon326:_ I don't think there is any way to make that squid look good. (lol) Anyway, Kira already knows what Zoe's Beast Spirit looks like and all. Yay references! Thanks for reviewing!

_fg1fg:_ Here's your darn Beast Spirit, okay? (lol) Dai will not be denied his picture. Thanks for reviewing!

_garnettfox:_ Aw, no problem! Sorry about your sister, I hope she'll be alright! Thanks for the review!

_Nightmare Soldier:_ Poor Kouichi. Oh, there is a shape-shifting Digimon? I just made one up because I thought there weren't any. Oh well, what's done is done. I think that SkullGreymon is very handsome (lol)! Eh, Kira should just be happy to finally get the darn Beast Spirit! You know, I bet Kouji could use the Force like that! Ha! (Kouji: Hate…you.) Thanks for reviewing!

_Aldamonburst:_ Oh, don't worry, Hotaru HAS his Beast Spirit, he's just not gonna USE it. That way he can still Fusion Evolve when the time comes! (Spoiler!) I'm sorry! I didn't know there was already a shape-shifting Digimon! Let's just forget he exists, okay? Once again, a very amusing sketch of the evil gang! Thanks for reviewing!

_TobiGB: _You're welcome! I brought Itachi just for you! And he'll even stay for the end commentary! And thanks very much for the treats and the review and the compliments and stuff! (lol)

_ladyaura:_ Well, thanks, I'm glad you liked the chapter! The freaky talking cat shall be explained in this chapter, never fear! I'm glad you like my portrayal of Kouji, and thanks for reviewing!

-

_Kouichi: eye still twitching_

_JP:_ I think he's developed a nervous twitch.

_madjack89:_ He'll be fine. Anyway, time for chapter sixteen!

_Itachi:_ Make sure you read it.

_Kira:_ …Creepy…

—

"Oh crap!" Kouichi dropped the cat to the ground, startled by its sudden bout of speech.

"Well, that wasn't very nice," the cat mumbled, failing to stand up due to its restrained front legs.

"So you really are a Digimon," Kouji mused, glaring at the cat. "You're a Hallucimon, aren't you?"

The cat flicked its gaze to Kouji and smirked. "Looks like the cat's out of the bag." (Pun alert!) "Yeah, I'm Hallucimon. What of it?"

"Don't act all innocent," Hotaru growled angrily, holding up his "expertly" bandaged arms.

Shino glared at me (again) while Hallucimon smiled in a catty fashion. (I could go on and on with these, but I won't for everyone's sake.) "It's not as if you didn't deserve it, grabbing me from behind and all."

"I think what Hotaru means is that we all know what you did to Takuya," Shino said, interjecting.

"Whoa, wait a minute," JP suddenly said, staring at Hallucimon with wide eyes. "You sound like a guy. Does that mean Takuya kissed…?"

Everyone turned slowly to look at Takuya, whose eyes had grown very big. Then Takuya exclaimed, "Oh my god, I kissed a guy!"

"Technically, Hallucimon don't have a specific gender," Hallucimon explained, licking its paw.

A moment of silence followed. Then Takuya exclaimed, "Oh my god, I kissed an it!"

"Well, on the plus side, it sounds like the Taki we know and love is back," JP whispered to Kouichi, who nodded.

"Okay, so I'm guessing we can safely assume that you either have a really sick sense of humor, or you're completely evil," Witchmon stated, staring at Hallucimon warily.

"I'd say I'm a little of both," Hallucimon said, glancing at Shino. "And you were correct earlier. I follow Lady Ilsemon."

"Welcome to the intelligent circle of our group, Shino," Kouji said, glancing at JP.

"Alright, Kouji, I was wrong," JP grumbled. "But evil twins are still strong possibilities, especially for us."

"It happened once!" Kouji cried exasperatedly. Kouichi just sighed, knowing JP was partially right (^_^).

While the others interrogated Hallucimon, Takuya was staring at the ground, looking troubled. Tommy noticed this and tapped Takuya on the shoulder to get his attention.

Takuya jumped, startled by Tommy's sudden presence. "Tommy? What is it?"

"Well…" Tommy began, not exactly knowing what to say. "I'm…worried."

Takuya smiled. "Tommy…"

"Let me finish," Tommy said, stopping Takuya. "I don't really understand all that's going on. I mean, I've never had a girlfriend before, so I don't know what it's like, but I know that Kira likes you, and you like her, so…she'll forgive you."

Takuya stared at Tommy for a moment, wide-eyed. Then he smirked and said, "Tommy, sometimes I'm amazed by the level of your maturity."

Tommy smiled slowly. "I guess it rubs off from you."

"Try telling Kouji that," Takuya muttered, chuckling. Then he added, "Thank you, Tommy. I'm sorry I worried you."

"It's okay," Tommy replied nonchalantly.

"Do you still love Zoe, Takuya?"

Suddenly, everything stopped, even the wind. The leaves didn't rustle, nor did the bushes. It all stopped.

At least, it did for Takuya. "Don't…" he pleaded quietly, eyes growing wide. "Not that…"

"Oh, don't worry, it should wear off in a few more hours," Hallucimon explained with a smirk. "But until then, I suggest you try to stay away from dear Zoe, or you might not be able to help yourself."

Takuya took a step backward, feeling his friends' stares. "No," he muttered, his feelings for Zoe resurfacing due to Hallucimon's words.

"What are you talking about?!" Takuya looked up, startled by Tommy's shout. Tommy was standing in front of Takuya, glaring down at Hallucimon.

"What did you do to Takuya?" Tommy continued, this time in more of a growl. "Tell us."

"Kid," JP began.

Before JP could continue, Kouichi grabbed his shoulder hard. "Hey, what the hell?!" JP exclaimed, wrenching his arm from Kouichi's grip.

"Sorry, but…" Kouichi looked up, glancing at Takuya. "I want to hear the truth, too."

Takuya stared at Kouichi, a smile playing on his lips. "You don't…hate me?"

"Hate you?" Kouichi said, confused. "Why would I hate you?"

"Well," Takuya began sheepishly, "I kind of thought you'd feel a little…betrayed."

"About…you and Zoe," Kouichi said, coming to a slow conclusion. "Takuya, I'm not mad, I don't feel betrayed, and I don't hate you. Something big obviously happened, and it's not like you actually kissed Zoe."

"He just kissed a gay Digimon," Kouji muttered.

"Shut up!" Takuya yelled, glaring at a smug-looking Kouji. Then he turned back to Kouichi and said, "Thanks, Chief."

"No problem," Kouichi replied.

"Oh, will you please stop this goody-two-shoes crap!" Hallucimon exclaimed as if he were being tortured. "Look, I made goggle-head over there fall back in love with cheerleader Barbie using a special flower!"

"Cheerleader Barbie?" Kouichi said flatly.

"Do you mean…?" Bokomon began, staring at Hallucimon with surprise.

"That's right," Hallucimon said, glaring coldly at Bokomon. "That flower's about as extinct as me."

"Okay, what flower is he talking about?" JP asked, turning to Bokomon for answers.

Bokomon sighed, then explained, "It is another species I thought was long dead until tonight. Its name has been lost through the centuries, for Digimon feared to speak—"

"It's like a pheromone flower," Witchmon said, interrupting Bokomon. "You know, like how those little buzzy, stingy things are attracted to flowers in your world."

"You mean bees, right?" Dai asked.

"That's what those little things are called?" Witchmon exclaimed. "They're little buzzing devils! They stung me! Me!"

"Get on with it!" Kouji yelled impatiently.

"Fine," Witchmon huffed. "Anyway, the 'bees' are attracted to flowers because they smell good, or so this sign in this one park said. It's kind of like that with this flower, only the pollen isn't for eating, it's for inducing feelings of infatuation in the person infected toward the first thing they see, which for Taki would have to have been Zoe."

"Or Hallucimon masquerading as Zoe," Bokomon added, feeling put out by Witchmon. "How do you know so much about this flower?"

"How do you think? I've been looking for one!" The others stared inquisitively at Witchmon. "Personal reasons, alright?"

"So, there's nothing we can do about the effects?" Shino asked, glancing at Takuya.

"As I already said, it will wear off in a few hours," Hallucimon explained impatiently. "The flower's effects are temporary."

"But strong," Bokomon interjected. "I wouldn't suggest Takuya getting near Zoe for several hours."

"That might be hard!" Neemon exclaimed, pointing through the trees just before Kazemon crashed into the clearing, landing with a thud on the ground.

Before the others could react, another figure crashed through the trees, towering above them. It looked like an enormous squid attached haphazardly to a mermaid's body. It had ten (I think) large tentacles, yellow eye-like protrusions lined around its mid-section (_Duskmon:_ Ha! What now?!), and long purple hair sticking out of its helmet. It was also sneering down at Kazemon.

"My god, what is that?" Shino asked, staring wide-eyed at the creature.

"That would be Kira," Kouji replied.

Both Shino and Hotaru turned slowly to Kouji, eyes wide and mouths agape. "What?!"

"So that's Kira's Beast Spirit?" Dai asked, staring at the squid Digimon with wonder and fascination.

"Uh, yeah," JP said, taking a few nervous steps back. "That's Calmaramon. See why we kept dodging the subject of Kira's Beast Spirit?"

Shino and Hotaru nodded, still shell-shocked. "This is so exciting!"Dai squealed happily, aiming his camera at Calmaramon.

The flash from the camera caught Calmaramon's attention, and she snapped her gaze away from Kazemon toward the others. Her narrowed eyes looked a bit cloudy, probably stemming from her unbridled rage.

"She's lost it," Kouji muttered through his teeth, slowly reaching for his pocketed D-Tector.

Calmaramon noticed this and slammed one of her larger tentacles down right in front of Kouji, aiming more to threaten than kill. "Not so fast, pretty boy," she growled.

Kouji quickly lifted his hands above his head, taking several steps backward. Calmaramon smirked, retracting her tentacle.

For a moment, no one spoke. Then Witchmon pointed at Calmaramon and said, "JP, attack!"

"What?!" JP exclaimed. "Why me?!"

"Because lightning beats water!" Witchmon explained impatiently. "Did Pokémon teach you nothing?"

"She's got a point," Dai said, agreeing.

"You know what, Witchmon? Shut up." With that, Calmaramon lashed out at Witchmon with her tentacle, catching her in the gut and driving her hard into a tree. Everyone watched as Witchmon fell to the ground, unmoving.

Takuya turned back to Calmaramon, horror-struck. How could Kira do this? How could she attack Witchmon…in cold blood? (_Witchmon:_ What's that supposed to mean?)

In reality, he knew why. He'd experienced it before. A searing, burning, fiery rage coursing through him, blinding him. The red.

"Don't hurt the others." Takuya turned his head at the sound of Kazemon's voice.

Kazemon had gotten to her feet and was now standing in front of Calmaramon. Her fists were balled, fueled by the senseless attack on Witchmon. "You want a real fight? I'll give you one. Just let me slip into something more comfortable."

As she said this, Kazemon was engulfed in data. When the data faded, Zephyrmon stood in Kazemon's place, looking determined.

Takuya stared at Zephyrmon, transfixed. Her boldness and determination were, for lack of a better word, hot. It made Takuya want to…

"Snap out of it!" Kouji yelled, shaking Takuya by the shoulders. Takuya blinked, brought back to reality by Kouji, who was standing in front of him and blocking his view of Zephyrmon.

Takuya clenched his fists in frustration. He was sick of being used tonight. "Thanks," he mumbled, calming down.

"Thank me later," Kouji said quickly, taking charge of the situation. "Zephyrmon can handle Calmaramon for now. We have to run, or we'll present easy targets. We can try to sneak around and catch Calmaramon by surprise once we're in the trees."

"What about Witchmon?" Tommy asked nervously.

"Leave her," Kouji replied curtly. "She'll be okay, she's not a threat. Now go!"

On Kouji's command, everyone made a break for the trees, save Zephyrmon and Calmaramon, whose fight was just beginning.

"Hurricane Gale!" Zephyrmon exclaimed, sending slicing blades of wind at Calmaramon. The squid Digimon reacted quickly, swatting the attack away with a tentacle.

But Zephyrmon had anticipated this and was already in the air, hands and feet glowing with red energy. "Plasma Pod!" Zephyrmon flew straight at Calmaramon, aiming to kill, or at least injure. She wasn't sure anymore. Calmaramon was.

"Acid Ink!" Calmaramon shot a large jet of black acid from her mouth, hitting Zephyrmon head-on.

Zephyrmon fell like a stone to the ground, the acid weighing her down as well as burning her.

"How does that feel, Zoe?" Calmaramon growled, glaring down at a suffering Zephyrmon.

"AH!" Kouichi paused in his retreat, hearing Zephyrmon's cry of pain. He turned to see Calmaramon towering over a defeated Zephyrmon. Over Zoe.

"Hurry up!" Kouichi turned back around, seeing the others staring at him from the trees, urging him forward. Especially Kouji.

Kouichi looked back and forth. He had to make a choice. Retreat or face Calmaramon. Join his brother or save Zephyrmon. Kouji or Zoe.

Kouichi took a breath, closing his eyes. "I'm either really brave or really stupid," he muttered to himself, coming to a decision. Then he turned and ran toward Calmaramon, D-Tector in hand.

"Kouichi!" Kouji took a step forward, but was quickly grabbed by JP. "Let go!" he protested, struggling against JP. "I have to—"

"Have to what?" JP asked harshly. "Kouichi made his choice. We can't all attack Calmaramon at once with the state she's in. It would be just like Takuya. We'd make it worse."

"But…" _He chose Zoe…over me,_ Kouji thought despairingly.

Takuya glanced at JP, thinking about what he'd just said. This WAS just like when he'd gotten his own Beast Spirit. A frenzied, uncontrollable rage had overtaken him.

_The red_, Takuya thought, remembering the piercing redness that had blurred his vision. Kira was going through that.

Takuya looked down the line of trees in the forest, seeing Tommy behind one a short way from him. Tommy had been able to break through the red and bring him back.

Suddenly, Takuya knew what to do. He turned to JP and said, "Keep everyone here," before dashing into the clearing, headed for Calmaramon.

Meanwhile, Kouichi stood protectively in front of Zephyrmon, glaring up at Calmaramon.

Calmaramon just smirked, amused. "I thought you might."

"What'll it be, Kira?" Kouichi asked threateningly. "Do you think you can beat me?"

"No," Calmaramon replied quietly. "I could never actually hope to beat the Warrior of Darkness. You're too strong.

"But," she added with a smile, "I know your weakness. You have a heart. You care, and you don't really want to hurt poor, confused Kira."

Kouichi looked down, knowing Calmaramon was right. He'd just wanted to protect Zoe and had moved without thinking. He hadn't planned on battling Kira. Calmaramon smiled darkly, raising her tentacle. "But I want to hurt you."

"Wait!" Takuya suddenly ran up beside Kouichi, stopping Calmaramon. Takuya stared at Calmaramon, looking determined.

"Takuya?" Kouichi said, glancing at his friend.

"Kouichi," Takuya said quietly, not turning his sight away from Calmaramon. "Try getting Zoe out of here. If I fail, I'm counting on you to protect the others. Calmaramon's right; you are stronger than the rest of us, and you always have been."

"Takuya," Kouichi began.

"Don't worry," Takuya interrupted, glancing at Kouichi with a smile and a wink. "I can handle an angry squid."

Kouichi paused, and then nodded, moving to perform his task. Meanwhile, Takuya was about to perform a task of his own.

Calmaramon glared down at Takuya, not seeming fazed by his presence. Takuya gulped, realizing this would be tough. Then he said, "Hey Kira. You got your Beast Spirit."

"Yeah," Calmaramon agreed coldly. "And in a few seconds I'm gonna kill you with it. But first," Calmaramon added, holding a tentacle over Takuya threateningly, "you are going to apologize for betraying me, Takuya."

"Wow," Takuya muttered, chuckling nervously. "You must really be mad. You called me Takuya instead of Taki."

"You've got five seconds to apologize," Calmaramon growled, not amused by Takuya.

"Alright," Takuya said, sighing. "I'm sorry, Kira. I'm sorry I hurt you, and I'm sorry that I'm probably the biggest idiot in the world. Both worlds."

Calmaramon stared at Takuya for a moment, expressionless. Then she said nonchalantly, "Fair enough," and grabbed Takuya in her tentacle, lifting him off the ground.

"Takuya!" Kouichi stepped forward, ready to help Takuya.

"I'm helping too," Zephyrmon said, getting up slowly.

"No you're not," Kouichi replied adamantly.

Zephyrmon was about to protest when JP suddenly said, "No Zoe, Kouichi's right." JP stood behind Zephyrmon along with the others. "We'll handle this."

"Get out of here!" Takuya yelled, staring sternly at his friends below. "I'll handle this alone!"

"Takuya, not to be mean, but how are you going to beat Calmaramon?" JP asked. "You aren't even fighting her, and I doubt you plan to."

Takuya turned as best he could, glaring at the others. "I…will…handle…this."

From the way Takuya had enunciated his last sentence, the others could tell that this really was something he had to do on his own. So, reluctantly, they began backing toward the trees, ready to jump into the fight if necessary.

Calmaramon chuckled as she watched the others' retreat. "Do you really think that'll save them, Takuya?"

Takuya flinched. "What do you mean?" he asked, though he already knew the answer.

Calmaramon smiled darkly. "I'm gonna kill everyone when I'm done with you."

Takuya kept his eyes trained on the ground below so Calmaramon couldn't see his pained expression. "This isn't you, Kira."

"This was me long before I met you," Calmaramon replied.

"I don't believe that!" Takuya exclaimed, no longer able to hold back his emotions. "I feel so guilty about what's happened, but enough is enough, Kira! You've become a soulless, ugly monster, which I know you never were! Have you even seen what your Beast Spirit looks like yet?"

"Shut up!" Calmaramon tightened her grip, crushing Takuya in her tentacle.

Takuya cried out in pain, but didn't give up. "You haven't seen your reflection, but you know. You saw how horrified Shino and Hotaru were, seeing Calmaramon for the first time."

"Why bring us into this?" Shino asked meekly from behind a tree.

"Face it, Kira," Takuya continued, staring Calmaramon in the eye. "Your Beast Spirit is really freakin' ugly!"

"Screw you!" Calmaramon cried, about to squeeze the life out of Takuya. He closed his eyes tightly, preparing for the worst.

Then something made Calmaramon stop. Something that always shook her every time she saw it. A tear rolled down Takuya's cheek. Takuya was crying. Kira hated seeing guys cry, especially ones she knew. It stemmed back to all the times her dad had cried after her mom died.

Calmaramon's eyes softened. "Please don't cry, Taki," she begged softly.

Takuya's eyes shot open. "Kira," he said, hope filling his voice.

That hope reminded Kira of what had just happened. What she'd done. What she'd almost done.

"Oh my god," Calmaramon muttered, wide-eyed. In her stupor, she loosened her grip on Takuya, causing him to fall.

Before he hit the ground, though, Zephyrmon swooped over and grabbed Takuya, placing him gently on the ground. "Alright, I've reached my limit," Zephyrmon panted, turning back into an exhausted Zoe. "Oh look, cartoon stars!"

"I gotcha!" Kouichi called, rushing up to Zoe and grabbing her before she collapsed from exhaustion.

"Thanks," Zoe mumbled, smiling at Kouichi. "All three of you!"

"Close, but there are only two," JP said, grinning mischievously at Kouji.

"Shut up," Kouji hissed, staring warily at Calmaramon. "This isn't over."

Takuya stood apart from the others, watching as Calmaramon glanced in all directions, frantically searching for something. Takuya pointed to his left and said, "The lake's that way, Kira."

Calmaramon glanced at Takuya and nodded. Then she moved slowly in the indicated direction, looking like she was in a daze.

When she disappeared through the trees, Shino turned to Takuya and asked, "Isn't it bad to point the unstable Beast Warrior of Water toward water?"

"She just wants to see herself," Takuya replied, following Calmaramon's route through the trees.

When he got to the lake, Calmaramon was already staring at her reflection in the water. She turned suddenly, sensing Takuya's presence. She was crying. "I am a monster."

With that statement, Calmaramon transformed into Kira, who ran to Takuya, wrapped her arms around him, and sobbed. "I'm an idiot!"

Takuya embraced Kira, holding her tightly while vowing never to do this to her again. "We're both idiots."

The rest of the gang crowded on the edge of the forest, silently watching Takuya and Kira.

"Okay, now it's over," Kouji said.

—

Palmon was trudging through the forest, carrying her few possessions on her back. Suddenly, she sensed something. She hadn't felt this in such a long time, but there was no mistaking it. She knew who was behind her.

"Hello, Hallucimon," Palmon said, greeting the black cat behind her.

The cat smirked. "Do I detect a trace of anger in that greeting? Not happy to see me?"

"You already know the answer to that, traitor," Palmon hissed, glaring at Hallucimon.

"Who have I betrayed?" Hallucimon asked curiously, sauntering up to Palmon.

"Your fellow Hallucimon," Palmon replied curtly. "Now that I think about it, you've betrayed all Digimon. Even me."

"That depends on your perspective," Hallucimon said, "I believe that Lady Ilsemon is doing good."

"You know I'm not just referring to that," Palmon spat. "You and your gang set off the mass Hallucimon genocide all those years ago, because you had such a huge superiority complex and threatened the Digital World with enslavement!"

"But who was it that committed the genocide?" Hallucimon asked slyly.

"Who was it that provoked them to do so?" Palmon retorted.

Hallucimon shook his head. "My dear, confused kin. Why do you defend those children?"

"Because they are children," Palmon replied. "They may have the Spirits, but they have nothing to do with the Legendary Warriors' attack on the Hallucimon all those years ago. They don't even know of it!"

"Oh, they know of it, thanks to that book worm of a Digimon following them. They just don't know who committed the murders," Hallucimon said. "But that's beside the point. I believe that you are the traitor, showing kindness to that Warrior of Light."

"He needed guidance," Palmon said quietly. "And I have done nothing to betray my kin. I was merely lucky and survived the genocide."

"As did I," Hallucimon said, looking Palmon up and down. "We just chose different paths. I allied myself with Ilsemon, while you hid in this puny form and allowed yourself to be taught by that pathetic Shamanmon."

"Shamanmon is a greater Digimon than you," Palmon growled.

Hallucimon glanced to the right, smiling slowly. Then he began to transform, growing in size until he stood well over Palmon. When the transformation ended, Lobomon stood where the black cat had been.

Before Palmon could react, Hallucimon drew his Light Saber (if only Kouji were here…), thrust it out straight to the right, and impaled an unsuspecting Shamanmon on it.

Palmon stared on in horror as Shamanmon looked down, realizing what he'd run into. He tried to say something, but the fake Lobomon was already scanning his data.

After Shamanmon's Digi-Egg flew away, Lobomon turned to Palmon and said, in Kouji's voice, "How great is he now?"

—

"It's too bad that we couldn't find Shamanmon," JP said, walking along some Trailmon tracks. "If there's one lesson I learned from this little adventure, it's never go to a fortune teller that you haven't checked out beforehand. That way you can make sure you get legitimate advice."

"Amen," Hotaru muttered, glancing back at a depressed-looking Kira, who trudged several feet behind the rest of the group.

Takuya looked back as well, then sighed. "That's it, I've given her enough time to brood. I'm gonna go talk to her." With that Takuya stopped, letting the others get ahead and letting Kira catch up to him.

"Good luck," Kouichi said quickly. When he turned to tell Takuya this, though, his eyes met Kouji's for a brief moment, before Kouji turned his head and looked the opposite way. But in that moment Kouichi thought he caught a trace of some emotion in Kouji's eyes that unnerved him. Kouji had looked betrayed.

_I'm probably just being paranoid,_ Kouichi thought, dismissing his fears as he turned back to the conversation the rest of the group was having.

"I'm not as mad about not finding Shamanmon as I am about that Hallucimon escaping," Zoe growled, clenching her fists. "I can't believe it did something like this while pretending it was me! And now I'm almost embarrassed to ever face Takuya or Kira again!"

"Yeah," Kouichi agreed, also a bit angry at Hallucimon for that incident with Takuya and that flower. "It's too bad it got away while we were preoccupied with Calmaramon."

"Speaking of which, was that seriously what Kira's Beast Spirit looks like?" Shino asked skeptically. "I mean, did she make it that…interesting to look at because she was angry?"

"Nope," JP answered, shaking his head. "You witnessed Calmaramon in all her squidish glory."

"And unfortunately, thanks to this incident, Kira will probably be even more reluctant to use Calmaramon's Spirit," Bokomon added.

"Yeah, poor her," Witchmon muttered, staring despondently at the ground.

"You still mad about the whole Kira attacking you thing?" JP asked, confused by Witchmon's uncharacteristic behavior.

"No, I'm not mad about that. I can't blame Kira for getting a little crazy after what happened," Witchmon replied, still staring at the ground. "She just got me thinking about things is all."

Zoe stared at Witchmon, concerned. "What's wrong?"

"It's nothing, alright?" Witchmon said, smiling half-heartedly at Zoe.

"Witchmon," Zoe began.

"I said it's nothing!" Witchmon shouted angrily, glaring at Zoe before running ahead of the others, for once acting only as their guide and not wanting to talk at all.

"Wow," Dai muttered, glancing first at Kouji, then at Kira. "Everybody's having problems. Madjack must be planning something big." (Hee hee.)

Meanwhile, Takuya was walking along beside Kira, waiting to see if Kira would say something. When she didn't, he started the conversation with, "So, what are we going to do now?"

Kira sighed heavily. "I don't know. I really screwed things up, didn't I?"

"We both did," Takuya said firmly.

"Yeah," Kira muttered sarcastically. "A Digimon set it up so I would see you and a fake Zoe kissing, but the only reason it got the idea to do that was because I had no trust in you."

"Hey, I should've known that it wasn't Zoe in the first place," Takuya retorted. "I feel really stupid not being able to tell a friend from some random shape-shifting Digimon. I was completely tricked."

"I was tricked too, and me and Zoe have become pretty tight," Kira said.

Takuya was about to reply, but then realized what he and Kira were doing. "We're playing the blame game, aren't we?"

Kira paused, considering this. "Well, I guess, but we're kind of playing it backward because usually the game involves blaming other people."

"I guess that's true," Takuya said, chuckling. Kira chuckled too, and soon they were laughing about nothing at all.

When his laughter subsided, Takuya turned to Kira with a small smile. "So, are we cool? I mean, I know how hard it'll be to earn your trust, but I'll try my best."

Kira stared at Takuya for a minute or so, and then smiled slightly mischievously. "Taki, close your eyes." Takuya gave Kira a wary look. "C'mon, try trusting me, why don't you?"

That statement made Takuya tentatively shut his eyes and stop walking for a moment. After waiting for what seemed like at least a minute, Takuya said, "Kira, can I please just open—"

Takuya didn't get to finish his sentence, for in the next moment, Kira had pressed her lips gently against Takuya's, giving him a slightly shy kiss. Takuya's eyes shot open in surprise, but quickly closed again as he began kissing Kira back. They stayed this way a moment longer, and then Kira pulled back, cheeks flushed slightly.

Takuya opened his eyes slowly, giving Kira a confused look. Kira smirked and said, "Don't be a dummy, Taki. I already trust you." She leaned closer to Takuya, getting right next to his ear, and added, "And I don't know much about kissing, but I'd say you're a pretty good kisser."

Then Kira turned and ran to catch up with the rest of the group, leaving Takuya standing in a daze. Kira had kissed him. Even after what he'd done, she was still willing to trust him. Takuya smiled to himself. "I'm never gonna find another girl like you, am I?"

He then began running after Kira with a renewed confidence.

—

_madjack89:_ There you have it! Many, many things happened in this chapter, as we see Kouji and Kouichi beginning to drift apart a bit and even Witchmon seeming to have something to brood over.

_Itachi:_ Kouichi still doesn't have enough hatred.

_Kouichi:_ …Can you please leave?

_madjack89:_ Kouichi, he's our guest! We can't kick him out!

_Kouichi:_ Fine.

_Shino:_ Actually, I agree with Kouichi. This guy is beginning to creep me out, especially with those red eyes.

_Kira:_ Well then it's a darn good thing you've never seen Naruto before, Shino.

_Dai:_ Yeah, then you'd probably be holed up in a closet right now like Takuya.

_Takuya: from closet_ It's self defense!

_JP:_ Oh crap, I just realized something.

_Kouji:_ What?

_JP:_ First Madjack had Neji in a commentary because he has the same voice actor as you, Kouji. Now she invited Itachi because he's voiced by Crispin Freeman, just like Chief.

_Kouji:_ So?

_JP:_ Steve Blum plays Orochimaru in Naruto.

_Everyone:_ …

_Orochimaru:_ Hello, JP.

_Everyone but madjack89 and Itachi: _AHHHHHHHHHH! _runs_

_Orochimaru:_ …Why does this happen every time?

_madjack89:_ Because you're a Michael Jackson wannabe. (BTW, R.I.P. Michael.)

_Itachi:_ Burn.

_Orochimaru:_ Oh, like you're any better!

_Takuya: comes out of closet_ It sounds like someone's got a scratchy throat.

_Orochimaru:_ Takuya!

_Takuya: _AH! _runs back in closet_

_Itachi:_ Double burn.

_Orochimaru:_ Every time!

_madjack89:_ …Alright, in the next chapter arc, the focus will mainly be on Zoe and Kouichi as Duskmon finally unleashes his true master's plan upon our unsuspecting little Chief! Until then, bye!

_Orochimaru:_ I'm not creepy!

_Itachi:_ Yes you are. Goodbye, everyone. And TobiGB, I hope you're happy.


	17. Ch 17: Anticipation

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 17: Anticipation **

_madjack89:_ Wow, chapter 17 already! Man, this is gonna be a long story. There's so much more I gotta cover!

_Takuya:_ You just get me more and more nervous every time you speak, Mad. Every time.

_madjack89:_ I'm done picking on you for a while now, Taki.

_Takuya:_ …I stand corrected. Yes!

_madjack89:_ Yeah, instead of you, I'm gonna concentrate some energy on the twins, Zoe, and maybe a little bit of Shino. And you guys must know what that means!

_Zoe:_ You're gonna mess with mine and Kouichi's relationship.

_madjack89:_ Yuppers!

_Kouichi:_ …And we're your favorite couple?

_madjack89:_ Yuppers! Alright, time for reviews!

-

_Dawn of Glory:_ Actually, I find Itachi a bit scary myself (wouldn't want to run into him in a dark alley). Wow, it would be funny to bring Shino Aburame to the commentary! It would get very confusing, though. But it would be funny, so it wouldn't matter! Thanks for reviewing!

_garnettfox:_ No problem! I can listen when I force myself to (I space out way too much). Anyway, the chapter was a little sappy, but I kind of like sappy things! Not too much sap, but just enough! Thank you for reviewing!

_GoldenDragon326:_ Hurry up and try to guess who Witchmon likes now, because I'm about to hint at it in the chapter! Duskmon said "Ha! What now?!" because Kira always makes fun of his eyeballs, and Calmaramon has eyeball looking things on her, so he was getting a little payback! Palmon is indeed Kouji's little fortune teller buddy, but she won't be coming back for a little while. Alright, thanks for the review!

_TobiGB:_ You're welcome! Man, you're gonna make me fat with all these sweets. I'll just give some to the gang (in moderation to Dai)! Kouichi is usually a pretty good sport, but with what Duskmon's about to do, that may change…anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_DigiBleach:_ TobiGB did it to you, too? Oh well, Itachi's a cool cat! (lol) Hooray for Taki and Kira, and good luck with Duskmon, Kouichi! Thanks for reviewing!

_Aldamonburst:_ Oh, I'm sorry, but with what I'm planning to do in this fanfiction, Sakkakumon just doesn't really fit anywhere. But someday I may write a side story with him in it, so don't worry! Wow, that sounds like a really awesome story idea! Hooray for torturing Kouji! (_Kouji:_ Why is it always me?) Because you make it easy! Okay, thanks for reviewing!

_fg1fg:_ I don't think Kira really wants to see Calmaramon in a picture 100 times, but it's the thought that counts! Alright, that makes the poll scores: 2 for KouichixZoe, and 1 for KoujixSeiko. KouichixZoe is quite popular! I really want to watch Full Metal Alchemist, especially since I've already seen a couple episodes and know it's awesome! Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_ladyaura:_ Heh, I'm glad you liked the chapter! To answer your questions, Hallucimon is my OC, Palmon is actually a Hallucimon in hiding, and I have no clue about the sexual orientations of some Digimon. Kouji says thanks for the weapons, and that they'll come in handy…whatever that means. Thanks for reviewing!

_hazeleyedharmony:_ Oh, it's all good!  
Crispin Freeman makes up for everything, man!  
It was supposed to be solemn at some parts and funny at others, so it's all good!  
Yeah, I like to think I put a little of myself in all my OCs (except Ilsemon, she scares even me!)  
Ha ha, evil twins!  
Yeah, Tommy gets a good chapter in from time to time (I need to concentrate on him some more).  
Oh man, you're allergic to bees? That sucks.  
Yes, they definitely took it better than the original gang (though that could be because of Kira).  
Eh, Kouji is being a drama queen! (_Kouji:_ …I really hate you, you know.)  
Yes, Taki and Kira are cute, and fun to write for!  
Yay for twin angst and couple drama! (I enjoy it too!) Thanks for reviewing!

-

_madjack89:_ Okay, time to start this thingy!

_Kouji:_ I can already tell this is gonna suck.

_**Announcement: **_**I did not create the Digimon Dragramon, who makes her first appearance in this chapter. She was created by garnettfox, who has given me permission to use Dragramon in my story. Thanks again, garnettfox! **

—

"Oh my god, finally!" Takuya exclaimed, looking into the distance. The others quickly crowded around him to see what had made him so relieved. Just over the hill they had climbed, they saw a long, narrow stretch of land going straight across a large body of water with Trailmon tracks running down it. And, farther in the distance, they could just make out a blot of complete darkness on the horizon.

"I never thought I'd say this, but thank god we're almost at the Dark Continent!" JP said.

"Yeah, three weeks of walking our asses off finally gets us somewhere," Kira added. "That Worm guy couldn't have stuck around to give us just a little lift, could he?"

"Like I said, the Trailmon are being a bunch of babies," Witchmon said, glancing at the gang. "So, you guys still want to play it safe and walk across that land bridge, or shall we make full use of those Spirits of yours and get across lickity-split?"

"I vote Spirits!" JP declared, raising his hand.

"Lazy!" Takuya coughed loudly.

JP glared at Takuya. "Can you honestly say you want to walk across that?" he asked, pointing at the land bridge.

Takuya glanced at the bridge and sighed, defeated. "Let's use our Spirits."

"I call shotgun on BurningGreymon!" Dai exclaimed.

"I'm not a freaking car!" Takuya cried, annoyed.

While the rest of the gang bickered, Kouichi continued to stare at the horizon, expressionless. Zoe noticed this and began to get worried. _I bet I can guess where his mind is at right now._

She took a step in Kouichi's direction, but stopped when she noticed that Kouji had also seen his brother's look and had taken a step toward Kouichi at the same time as her. Zoe and Kouji stared at each other for a moment. Then Zoe gestured toward Kouichi, indicating that they could both go and cheer him up. Surprisingly, Kouji shook his head, turned, and walked back toward the group without giving Kouichi a second glance.

Zoe thought that Kouji's behavior was odd, but decided to tackle one problem at a time and headed for Kouichi. At the last minute, though, she decided to be sneaky and crept up behind Kouichi, smiling mischievously. She stood behind him for a moment, then grabbed both his shoulders and said cheerily, "Hey Kouichi!"

Kouichi jumped, startled by Zoe's "sneak attack." He turned around, smiling half-heartedly. "Was that really necessary in order to get my attention?"

"No, I just thought it would be funny," Zoe replied, chuckling. Kouichi laughed a little, but it was very short-lived, because in the next second he began to get that far away look in his eye again. Zoe's smile instantly dissipated. "Kouichi, I know what the Dark Continent means for you. It holds a lot of memories you probably wish you didn't have."

"Nothing good can come from this place," Kouichi said quietly, eyes downcast.

"One good thing did come from this place," Zoe argued, grabbing Kouichi's hand gently. "You."

"I'm not from here, you met me here," Kouichi said, smirking slightly.

"Same thing," Zoe said, over-exaggerating a frown. This actually got Kouichi to laugh more, and Zoe joined in.

After several minutes, Kouichi smiled at Zoe, this time genuinely. "Thanks, Zoe. But…" Kouichi paused, looking troubled.

"What is it?" Zoe asked. "You can tell me."

Kouichi hesitated a moment longer, then finally replied, "I know that I'm gonna have to face Duskmon here."

Zoe's concerned expression deepened. "You're worried about Duskmon again?"

"Yes," Kouichi replied simply. "You should be, too. If he really wants to get to me, it's obvious who he's going to go after."

"There's as much chance of Duskmon targeting anyone else," Zoe said.

"But he'll go after you," Kouichi stated firmly. "He knows that I love you, and he'll use that."

Zoe got a slight flutter in her chest like she always did when Kouichi said he loved her. Then she said, "Kouichi, even if that's true, I can handle myself. I'm not some weakling you have to protect."

"Duskmon won't give you the chance to protect yourself," Kouichi retorted.

"Then I'll be extra careful," Zoe said, trying to rest Kouichi's fears.

Kouichi's facial expression suddenly changed. Instead of the mildly concerned look he'd had a moment ago, he looked terrified. Zoe's eyes softened when she saw just how scared Kouichi really was of Duskmon. "If something happens, I don't think I can beat him," Kouichi said softly.

Instead of saying something, Zoe wrapped her arms tightly around Kouichi, trying to give him reassurance. Kouichi returned the hug, embracing Zoe almost protectively. He still wasn't confident in his ability to defeat his past ghosts, but all that mattered at that moment was that he loved Zoe, and he would die defending her if he had to.

Meanwhile, Kouji stood a little ways away, silently watching Zoe and Kouichi's exchange. When they hugged, he had to lower his head quickly so that no one would see how jealous he must have looked.

—

After a short montage of the gang using their Spirits to get across the land bridge, everyone stood, back in human form, in front of the massive gates marking the Dark Continent. All they could do for a moment was stare at its threatening exterior.

"Well, this isn't intimidating," Kira said sarcastically, breaking the silence.

"Look at that," Dai said, pointing at the ground near the gate. "The darkness just starts right there, and the light just stops."

"Hence it being called the Dark Continent," JP muttered, glancing at Kouichi. "You gonna be okay, Chief?"

Kouichi nodded. "I'm fine."

"Okay, what the crap?" Kira said, confused. "Out of anyone, I'd think the freakin' Warrior of Darkness would be okay in the Dark Continent."

The original six, along with Bokomon and Witchmon (Neemon was not paying attention as usual), smiled fakely. "Actually Kira, JP was talking about how…Kouichi might trip in the forest! You know, because it's dark and branches could be lurking anywhere!" Takuya said quickly, coming up with something on the spot.

Kouichi glared at Takuya, but nodded along with everyone else, validating Takuya's lie. Kira stared at the others skeptically, but finally muttered, "I guess Chief is pretty clumsy."

"That's right!" Takuya said, beginning to enjoy himself. "Now, let's just go through the gate and follow Witchmon to this Resistance base!"

Everyone nodded, and soon the gang was headed into the darkness, with many more questions than answers.

—

~_He's coming.~_

"I know," Duskmon replied, getting up slowly. "Finally, I can end your sadness."

She giggled, a bit flattered by Duskmon's chivalry. ~_You really are quite a loyal Digimon, despite what others say.~_

"Thank you," Duskmon said sincerely, glancing at one of his blades. As he stared at it, it started to glow black until the sword looked as if it were made from nothing but dark energy. Then Duskmon thrust it at a tree, plunging it straight through the trunk.

As he held it there, the tree began to slowly whither, until there was nothing left but a scraggly, shriveled, blackened branch. Duskmon retracted his sword as the glowing ceased. "It seems we've perfected that technique to an art."

~_Indeed,_~ she agreed, nearly giddy with excitement. _~Oh, I just can't wait to see him again!~_

"Don't forget, this isn't the same Warrior from all those decades ago," Duskmon cautioned. "This is just the child that holds his Spirits."

_~That's enough for me,~_ she said dreamily. _~After all, he acts just like him!~_

"They all act like the Legendary Warriors did," Duskmon retorted. "Whether that's because they were chosen or was merely caused by a reflection of the Spirits' power on them at a young age is unknown to me."

~_It matters little to me how it happened. I'm just relieved that it did happen!~_ she said nonchalantly. _~When my little black kitty was killed, I was simply devastated. But now, he has returned, and this time, I won't give him the choice to leave me again.~_

"That shouldn't be hard for you," Duskmon said darkly. "All you have to do is 'liberate' Kouichi."

_~Yes,~ _she muttered, getting more serious. _~I'll save him from that horrible Warrior of Light, once and for all.~_

—

"Okay, that time there definitely were a pair of glowing eyes staring at me," Shino said, glancing warily into the forest to his right.

"Where?" Dai asked excitedly, quickly aiming his camera at the spot Shino was looking at.

Takuya sighed, turning to Witchmon. "Alright Witchmon, the paranoia's starting to set in, and I don't feel like giving another speech about not being afraid of the dark, so can you please just tell us where the hell we're going?"

"When did you give a speech like that?" Kira asked skeptically. "Actually, when did you give a speech in general?"

"Oh, he was big with the speeches two years ago," JP explained, chuckling. "Good times…"

Witchmon glared at Kira and JP, quickly shutting them up. She'd been getting moodier and moodier as they neared their destination. She turned back to Takuya and said, "We're actually almost there. I just don't want to waltz right up to the spot and set the entire Resistance defenses on us."

"What kind of defenses?" Hotaru asked.

Before Witchmon could reply, a thick mist suddenly descended onto the gang out of seemingly nowhere. "Hey, what the hell?!" Kira exclaimed, glancing back and forth. "I can't see anything!"

"I'm thinking that's the point," Kouji said, poised to defend himself. The others looked around nervously, waiting for something to happen.

After at least two minutes of nothing, Takuya said tentatively, "Guys? You okay?" No answer came. "Kira?" Nothing. "Okay guys, that's not—"

Takuya couldn't finish his sentence, because in the next second, he was lying on the ground, slipping out of consciousness. Before he was completely gone, he realized that this must have happened to the others already. Then he passed out.

And from the trees, Duskmon silently watched the scene in cover of darkness, eyes glowing.

—

"Urgh…" Takuya groaned, slowly opening his eyes. He expected to see a bleak, dark sky swirling above him. What he did see was dirt. A lot of dirt.

Takuya sat up, but quickly regretted it when a wave of pain shot through his temples. "Ow," he muttered, putting a hand to his forehead.

"You shouldn't have gotten up that fast." Takuya turned his head, seeing Hotaru sitting not far from him. He then noticed the rest of his friends scattered around the floor, still unconscious.

"Don't worry," Hotaru continued, noticing Takuya's concerned expression. "They're all okay. Unconscious, but okay. I think whoever ambushed us knocked us out by hitting us all in the back of the head, judging from the killer headache I have."

Takuya nodded, still feeling a little groggy. "Are you okay?"

"I've had worse," Hotaru replied, shrugging. "But I think we've got bigger problems than our comfort level. First of all, it looks like we're in some sort of underground cavern."

Takuya looked around and saw that Hotaru was correct. He and the others were all lying on the dirt floor of a large cavern which looked as if it had been dug out a long while ago. "Who brought us here?"

"I don't know. No one's come in since I woke up," Hotaru answered. "But we have another problem. Shino and Witchmon are gone."

"What?" Takuya exclaimed, ignoring the headache that accompanied this outburst. He looked back at the others and realized that Hotaru was right. Shino and Witchmon weren't among them, nor were they anywhere in the cavern.

"We have to find them now," Takuya said, beginning to get shakily to his feet.

"We can do that after the grogginess wears off," Hotaru said, gesturing for Takuya to sit back down. Takuya ignored him, making his way toward a dark cloth hanging on the wall, which he supposed was the way out.

Before he got there, though, a Digimon held up the cloth and stepped into the room. It looked like a small person made entirely of rock, with big arms and feet. The Digimon glanced around the cavern until its gaze rested on Takuya. "It's been awhile, hasn't it Takuya?"

"Gotsumon?" Takuya said, noticing the magnifying glass hanging around the Digimon's neck.

Gotsumon nodded, confirming that it was the same Gotsumon the gang had met on their first trip to the Digital World. "In the flesh, or rock, or whatever."

"You know him?" Hotaru asked Takuya, getting to his feet as well.

"Yeah," Takuya replied, turning back to Gotsumon. "Gotsumon, what's going on? Where are we?"

"We're at the Resistance encampment," Witchmon said, suddenly stepping through the cavern opening after Gotsumon. "But god, they didn't have to give us such a rude welcome."

"I'm sorry about that," Gotsumon muttered sheepishly. "We've all been a little jumpy lately. It's mostly been attack, ask questions later with everyone."

Witchmon smiled. "I don't blame you, Gotsumon."

Takuya and Hotaru gave Witchmon a quizzical look. "So anyway," Witchmon continued, quickly changing the subject, "I bet you're wondering why we're all underground."

"The Resistance is hidden underground," Hotaru said, making a guess.

Witchmon glared at Hotaru. "Okay, then I bet you're wondering where Shino is."

"That's why I came to get the rest of you," Gotsumon said, once again looking sheepish. "He's in a little bit of trouble."

—

After the rest of the gang came to, Gotsumon led them out of the cavern they were in, leading them down a long tunnel. The tunnel branched off into other tunnels as well as other caverns of all sizes, with all sorts of Digimon occupying them.

"Wow," Kira muttered in awe, looking around. "This is a pretty fancy set up, I gotta say."

"Though the tunnels could be a little bit wider!" JP commented from the very back of the single-file line everyone had formed.

"Gotsumon, can you just tell us what's going on already?" Kouji asked, beginning to get anxious. "What's wrong with Shino?"

"Nothing's wrong per say," Gotsumon replied, avoiding Kouji's stare. "Shino's not hurt or anything, but…"

Suddenly Gotsumon stopped, standing in front of another cloth covered cavern opening. The rest of the line halted. Then Gotsumon lifted the flap without a word, motioning for the others to enter. Everyone stepped into the cavern one at a time, each gasping when they saw what was awaiting them inside.

Shino was sitting against a wall, head lowered from, as far as the others could tell, exhaustion. His wrists and ankles were bound tightly with rope, and there was a gage stuck in his mouth. He also had a few cuts and bruises and looked a little dirty. To add to this, he was being guarded by two Gabumon.

"Shino?" Zoe said, tentatively trying to get his attention.

Shino's head shot up at the sound of her voice. He looked at each of his friends, his eyes filling with hope and, at the same time, confusion.

"Hey, what did I say about gagging him?" Gotsumon said angrily, glaring at the two Gabumon guarding Shino.

"He was using an obscene amount of profanity," one of the guards said, while the other crouched down and carefully removed Shino's gag.

"Damn right I cussed at you, you bastards," Shino growled, glaring at the Gabumon. Then he turned back to his friends and asked, "Guys, what's going on? I woke up here and these guys just randomly grabbed me and tied me up. I tried fighting them off, but my D-Tector's missing."

"Don't worry, Dragramon took your D-Tector for safe-keeping," Gotsumon said reassuringly to Shino.

"Dragramon?" everyone asked at once, never having heard of that type of Digimon before.

"Okay, how many supposedly extinct species of Digimon are there going to be on this adventure?" Bokomon exclaimed.

"Dragramon are extinct too?" JP asked.

"I'm not extinct!" Everyone turned to see another Digimon entering the cavern. It looked, basically, like a miniature dragon. It was purple with glittering silver claws and pretty blue eyes. It stood on its two hind legs, holding Shino's D-Tector gingerly in its front claws.

"Oh my," Bokomon muttered, stunned by the site of Dragramon.

"Yeah, I get that a lot," Dragramon said, smirking. "It happens when you're the last Dragramon left in existence, and a pretty one at that."

"Getting full of yourself, Dragra?" Witchmon suddenly spoke up from across the room, smiling at Dragramon.

Dragramon's eyes instantly lit up at the site of Witchmon. "Witchy, you're awake!" Dragramon dropped Shino's D-Tector onto the floor in her hast to get to Witchmon, nearly trampling it under her feet.

"Careful!" Shino cautioned, staring anxiously at his D-Tector.

Dragramon ignored him as she leaped at Witchmon, giving her a big hug that Witchmon returned. The others stared on at the scene, confused.

"Uh, Witchmon, would you like to introduce your friend to us?" Takuya asked, glancing curiously at the little purple dragon.

Dragramon let go of Witchmon, turning to face Takuya. "Well, I'm Dragramon, as you probably already know, but you can just call me Dragra if you like!"

"Does that mean we can start calling you Witchy?" JP muttered, smirking at Witchmon.

"That nickname is reserved for Dragramon, thank you very much," Witchmon said, glaring at JP.

"Yeah, because we're thick as thieves!" Dragramon added happily, grabbing Witchmon's arm and swinging it back and forth.

"I really hope they don't mean that literally," Kouichi whispered to Kouji, who nodded.

"Okay, so we've got the last Dragramon left in existence on our side?" Kira stated. "Sweet!"

"Guys, maybe we should be a little more focused on why our friend was bound and gagged for no apparent reason," Zoe said, gesturing at Shino.

Everyone quieted down and turned to Gotsumon, looking to him for the answer. Gotsumon sighed. "I really did try to stick up for him. Dragramon, too. But, fear is a powerful thing, if not completely stupid in this case, and this was the only way we could rest everyone's fears."

"Fear of what?" JP asked skeptically. "Shino's just…Shino."

"And what is that supposed to mean?" Shino asked, glaring at JP.

"I think what JP means is why would they be afraid of one of the Legendary Warriors?" Kouichi asked quickly, making up for JP.

"And if they're afraid of him, why aren't they afraid of us?" Kouji added.

"Because of this," Gotsumon said, walking toward Shino. The others watched as Gotsumon lifted Shino's sleeve, revealing the burn mark on Shino's right arm (I finally picked an arm for this). Instead of looking like a burn, though, it had taken on a more tattoo-like shape, and was now black.

"Okay," Kira said slowly. "I'll admit that thing is a little creepy, what with the changing shape and color and all that, but what does it have to do with everyone hating Shino?"

"It's because it's an evil symbol," Gotsumon replied, sighing again.

"You guys should have told me earlier what Wizardmon did to Shino," Witchmon said, stepping into the conversation. "Then I might have been able to fix it before it morphed into that mark."

"We thought it was just some weird burn," Takuya retorted. "We didn't know it was evil. I mean, it wasn't really doing any harm."

"What do you mean by evil?" Shino asked Gotsumon, beginning to get nervous. "What's gonna happen to me?"

"Nothing," Gotsumon replied firmly. "It's just a symbol that has represented bad luck in the past. Witchmon knows more about it than I do."

"It was a symbol created a long time ago by some big council of Wizardmon and Witchmon," Witchmon began to explain. "You see, our two species are from a kind of hidden part of the Digital World and, quite frankly, we're not usually the nicest Digimon out there."

"No kidding," JP muttered, thinking of Wizardmon.

"Anyway," Witchmon continued. "This council wanted to create a symbol that would strike fear into Digimon's hearts, or whatever. So, they made this, and Wizardmon and Witchmon started using it to mark where they'd done their evil deeds or something. I've never used it, but my brother likes to put that mark on places he's been every once in a while."

"So it's just a symbol that marks bad luck?" Tommy asked. "Why would everyone be afraid of Shino for that?"

"On inanimate objects it's just a symbol of bad luck. On a living being, it's a little more than that," Witchmon explained, glancing at an anxious-looking Shino.

"I can track Wizardmon with it," Shino said softly. "It glows when he's nearby."

"Well, that's good," Witchmon replied. "You see, that mark from Wizardmon gave you a kind of…bond with him."

Everyone stared at Witchmon in disbelief. "Wizardmon…and Shino…what?" JP asked, confused.

"It gives him a bond with Wizardmon," Witchmon said flatly, not liking the interruptions. "It's not like they're two halves of a whole now or anything, they just have a kind of connection."

"Wait, so Wizardmon can't sneak up on us?" Takuya said. "Isn't that a good thing?"

"It works both ways," Witchmon replied, dashing Takuya's excitement. "But, there is something else. Sometimes, with things like this, the Digimon that left the mark can…influence the victim's thoughts, a little."

At first, no one spoke. Then Zoe said softly, "So, Wizardmon could control Shino?"

"If he hasn't done it by now, I doubt he even can," Witchmon said quickly. "It would take a lot of stress on Shino's part for Wizardmon to be able to manipulate him, but from what I've seen of Shino, he's got his head on pretty straight, so it'll be fine!"

"But try telling that to an entire army of suspicious Digimon," Dragramon added huffily. "We tried to explain, but they just won't listen!"

"So, we had to meet them half-way and put Shino under surveillance, just to make sure he doesn't try anything," Gotsumon finished. "It's all pretty stupid, like I said earlier."

"Can we at least untie him?" Takuya asked hopefully.

Gotsumon shook his head. "Not unless someone who could take on a Legendary Warrior is willing to watch him."

The gang gave each other looks before replying in unison, "Like us?"

Gotsumon blinked, eyes wide. "Why didn't I think of that?!"

"Ha, we're getting around the rules!" Witchmon exclaimed, high-fiving Dragramon. Then she turned to the two Gabumon guards and said, "You heard the Legendary Warriors! Untie the boy!"

The Gabumon looked stunned for a moment, but quickly did as they were told and untied Shino. Shino got slowly to his feet, rubbing his wrists. He glanced at the two Gabumon. "I'm sorry I…punched and kicked you guys."

The Gabumon just nodded curtly before shuffling away, as if being near Shino had really scared them. In actuality, it probably had.

Shino's expression fell. Zoe was about to say something to him when a Tentomon flew into the cavern suddenly. "Gotsumon, I've got some bad…" It stopped midsentence when it noticed Shino. "Why isn't he tied up?" it asked warily.

Shino began to shrink under the Digimon's gaze, while the rest of the gang quickly gathered in front of him protectively.

"It's fine, Tentomon," Gotsumon said firmly, glaring at Tentomon. "And it probably wouldn't be a very good idea for you to say something like that in front of Shino's friends, would it?"

"Uh…" Tentomon glanced between Gotsumon and the gang. "Wait, that's not why I'm here! I have news for you!"

"Then let's hear it," Gotsumon replied coolly.

"Alright," Tentomon began, regaining his composure. "Since the Legendary Warriors have indeed returned, we believe it's time to carry out our plans to free Masumon from the Rose Morning Star."

"What?!" the original gang exclaimed.

"I thought we blew that up!" JP said.

"Ilsemon rebuilt it," Gotsumon answered, turning back to Tentomon. "You know we can't go through with that yet. It'll depend on secrecy, and without a way to sneak into the RMS (if you don't know what this abbreviation stands for, then wow), we'll be stopped before we even get close to Masumon."

Tentomon looked like he was going to reply, but knew Gotsumon was right and hung his head.

"Wait," Kouichi suddenly said, startling everyone. He turned to Gotsumon and asked, "Is the Rose Morning Star much different from what it was like before?"

Gotsumon blinked, a bit put off by Kouichi's sudden question. "Uh…not that I know of. As far as I know, all Ilsemon did was rebuild the thing to be exactly what it was like before, give or take a few more floors."

"Ilsemon isn't the most creative Digimon," Tentomon added, hoping to make up for earlier.

"In that case, I know a secret way in," Kouichi stated simply.

—

_madjack89:_ Yay, Kouichi's being useful!

_Kouichi: _When have I not been useful?

_madjack89:_ …Good point.

_Shino:_ Madjack, why do you feel the constant need to torture me?

_madjack89:_ I don't…actually, I do pick on you a lot, don't I? Ha, I didn't even notice!

_Shino:_ …

_Zoe:_ Anyway, let's get on with the "what's gonna happen in the next chapter" part of the commentary.

_madjack89:_ Who would like to explain?

_Everyone:_ …

_madjack89:_ Kouji, thank you for volunteering!

_Kouji:_ What?

_madjack89:_ Just read what's on the cue card!

_Kouji:_ Whatever…in the next chapter, more strain will be put on Kouichi and Zoe's relationship, as Kouichi goes on an intelligence-gathering operation to scout out the secret way into the Rose Morning Star, and both Kouichi and Zoe are worried for each other. There, happy?

_Takuya:_ …You said that all in one breath.

_Kouji:_ So?

_Takuya:_ …I can hold my breath for a minute under water.

_Kira:_ I can hold it for two minutes! Take that, Taki!

_madjack89:_ I'd better end the commentary before a one-up war occurs. See ya in the next chapter!


	18. Ch 18: You Make Me Weak

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 18: You Make Me Weak**

_madjack89:_ Howdy, everyone! It's time for (_drum roll…_) Frontier 02: Rebirthing! Yay!

_Dai:_ Yay!

_Kouji:_ Boo.

_madjack89:_ Shut up, Kouji!

_Kouji:_ Hmph.

_Zoe:_ So, can we get to the chapter already?

_madjack89:_ Aw, Zoe's anxious about what's gonna happen!

_Zoe:_ A little bit…

_Kouichi:_ Don't worry, it can't be that bad. Besides, it involves me too, so she'll probably just concentrate on making me miserable.

_JP:_ Yeah, that sounds about right.

_madjack89:_ Hee hee!

_Takuya:_ …So, is it review time?

_madjack89:_ That depends on fanfiction and its various glitches.

-

_hazeleyedharmony:_ Aw, thank you!  
I think I may just have to agree with you. He and Seiko are my favorite OCs to write for (if only Seiko weren't dead…)  
If Kouichi had punched Zoe in the nose, he probably would have been mortified all chapter! (lol)  
They sure are! They're my favorite couple to write for, always!  
Yeah, they just can't let the clumsiness thing go.  
Actually…I guess I didn't make it clear, but that wasn't Ilsemon. It was Duskmon's true master. My bad! (I'll have to reveal her name soon so there won't be any more confusion.)  
I always used to let my attention drift when Taki gave a speech. Sorry Taki!  
Man, I gotta stop torturing Shino at some point…in the future. (_Shino:_ Of course.)  
Ha ha, I didn't even think of that! Nice! (_Kouichi:_ That's not what I meant.) I know, but it's funny! (_Kouichi: sigh_)  
Thank you once again!

_TobiGB:_ Yes, what does Duskmon have up his sleeves (though he doesn't even have hands)? Kouichi knows a way in because of his time as Duskmon, nothing weird. All he can do is try to be careful, especially with me for an author (mua ha ha…)! Thanks!

_GoldenDragon326:_ Yay, you guessed the coupling (not that hard to guess, though)! Yeah, Kouji would do that, which is why I wrote it! Thanks!

_DigiBleach:_ Hope you have (or had) fun in Arkansas! I've never actually been there before. Oh well, maybe someday. Thanks for the review! (Yay Kouizumi!)

_Kayland Elric:_ Oh, it's fine! I'm glad you're still enjoying the story! I probably could make an amv like that (I actually thought of that when writing the commentary, too)! Thanks!

_garnettfox:_ I'm glad I did! I took at least twenty minutes writing her part so that I could get her right! (Plus I kind of used Shedra as a reference.) Thanks again for letting me use Dragramon, she's gonna be fun to work with! And thanks for reviewing!

_Aldamonburst:_ I'm still sorry, so I've been trying to brainstorm ways to put Sakkakumon in somewhere. I knew the first fact, and probably could have guessed the second (episode 7 lol). Aw, poor Strabimon. I guess that Kouji would be the most likely to be gay… (_Kouji:_ Don't even think about it.) Alright, alright…thanks for reviewing, Burst!

_shadica:_ Really? Wow, I can't believe you like my stuff that much! Thanks! And thanks for reviewing!

_CHIBI-CRAZY: _I'm sorry I pick on them, but they just make it so easy! I can't really tell you quite yet what that last dream was about, but I can tell you you'll find out in the next chapter arc. Sorry about the cliffhanger, I really just can't help myself! (_Dai:_ Yay, donuts!) I'll take those! (_Dai:_ Aw…) You can have one. (_Dai:_ Yay!) Alright, thanks for reviewing! Just stick with me, and all your questions will be answered!

_61wisampa:_ Don't worry, Chief's not gonna DIE. (_Kouichi:_ …Something about the way you said that is getting me worried, too.) Believe it or not, I do feel bad doing all this stuff to Shino, but it's all necessary for his character development. Thanks for reviewing!

_JewelledTears:_ Everything I'm doing to these guys is necessary to further the plot! I'm sorry! And I'm sorry if Kouji seems a little minor, but like I said, he can't have the spotlight all the time. Thanks for reviewing!

_apapa155:_ Don't worry guys, I shall warm you! Taki! (_Takuya:_ What?) Evolve into Agunimon and get these guys nice and toasty again! (_Takuya:_ Alright…Spirit Evolution!) (_Agunimon:_ Pyro Darts!) There you go, nice and warm! Thanks Taki! (_Takuya:_ No prob.) You want to put a Digimon in, too? Then by all means, submit it! There's a 97.8% chance it'll end up in the story! Thanks for reviewing, guys!

_fg1fg:_ I've never tested how long I can hold my breath and, quite frankly, I don't really want to. But enough about me! You are half right about the whole Shino manipulation thing. Thanks for reviewing!

_Digital Fan93:_ Oh wow, this was your first review? I feel really grateful that you picked my story to review, and that you like it, and that you put this much time into helping your friend help me! Just…thank you so much! I am honestly completely flattered! And a big thanks to Nightmare Soldier! (BTW, if you like Dragramon, compliment garnettfox!)

-

_madjack89:_ Okay, it is time for chapter 18! Woot woot!

—

"Why does he have to go and do something like this?!" Zoe cried in frustration, continuing the rant she'd been on for ten minutes.

"I don't know," Takuya replied listlessly, speaking for the rest of the gang, who had mostly started tuning Zoe out.

"It's just," Zoe began, finally beginning to cool down after her anger-filled yelling, "we talked, because I was worried about him, and he said he was worried about Duskmon, and he was worried that Duskmon would come after me, and I was worried about him, and we both had mutual worry, so why the hell would he go on a stupid scouting mission?" Zoe stared at the dirt wall in front of her, biting her lip in frustration. "It's stupid."

"I wouldn't say stupid," JP said tentatively, hoping Zoe wouldn't turn on him next. "He just wants to help out is all. You know Kouichi."

"Yeah, but it's that selfless attitude of his that's beginning to annoy me," Zoe muttered.

"Well, you could talk to him instead of us," Takuya said, trying to hide the hope in his voice.

"Why are you talking to us, anyway?" Shino asked, quickly adding, "Not that we don't want you to talk to us, but this seems like more of a…girl issue."

"Kira's checking out the tunnels," Takuya said. "It's kind of weird that she would be into this set-up more than Dai."

"I think it's cool!" Dai said. "I'm just gonna check out the tunnels with Dragramon later!"

"In some ways, Dragramon is like a female you," Hotaru stated, sighing at Dai.

"And in other ways, she's like a dragonoid Witchmon," JP added.

"Guys, focus!" Zoe yelled, getting the guys' attention back. "I don't want to bother Kira with these kinds of problems right now, especially after…" Zoe paused, not able to say 'after what happened with Calmaramon.' "And I definitely can't talk to Kouichi about this. He'd just worry more about me, which is the last thing I want."

"So you're just gonna take all the worry on yourself?" Tommy asked quizzically. "Relationships are complicated."

"Amen," Takuya and JP said at the same time.

Suddenly Kouji, who had been listening silently to the conversation the entire time, got up and stalked out of the room, training his eyes on the floor.

The others watched him leave, and as soon as he was out of the cavern opening, Takuya said, "What's up with him?"

—

Kouji breathed a sigh of relief, glad to be out of THAT conversation. He didn't want to talk about relationships at all, particularly Zoe and Kouichi's. All that did was make his frustration that much worse.

It wasn't like he didn't try. He didn't want to feel so angry at Zoe. He loved Zoe. Not in the way his brother did, more in a friendly way. They'd been through a lot together. But…she'd gotten close to Kouichi.

Kouichi was his twin. They'd been close ever since they met. It was hard to explain, especially with Takuya's "twin power" theories. It wasn't exactly like that. He and Kouichi had just always…clicked. But now, Zoe seemed to be tearing that apart. Kouji wasn't even sure if either of them realized that they seemed to be slowly shoving him out.

It scared Kouji to think that one day, he and Kouichi may no longer be close, and these years he'd spent with him would just be a happy memory. It would be more than that for Zoe.

"Kouji?" Kouji's head shot up when he heard his brother's voice. Kouichi was standing in front of Kouji, looking a bit concerned.

After a few tense seconds, Kouji said, "Hey Kouichi."

Kouichi frowned in return. "Kouji, what's wrong?"

Kouji turned away, pierced by Kouichi's stare. "Nothing you need to worry about."

"Nothing I need to worry about?" Kouichi repeated incredulously. "Last time there was something I didn't need to worry about, you almost killed Takuya."

Kouji flinched, remembering what had happened a few months ago. Kouichi's eyes softened. "I'm sorry, Kouji, but I just want…I NEED to know if there's anything wrong, so that I can help you. You know that's all I'm trying to do."

Kouji nodded slowly. "Kouichi…"

"Yeah?" Kouichi said hopefully.

Kouji thought for a moment, and then said, "Zoe's worried about you. She's afraid of what will happen on this scouting mission you have. You should talk to her before you leave."

Kouji noticed Kouichi's expression change from concern to anxiety in the blink of an eye. "She's worried about me?"

"She didn't want to talk to you, but I think you should," Kouji continued in a monotone. "She's a little ways down the tunnel, in the room Gotsumon put us in."

Kouichi nodded quickly, taking a step down the tunnel. Before he took a second step, he turned back to Kouji, still looking slightly concerned for him. "Are you sure you're fine?"

"Yeah," Kouji replied, shrugging Kouichi's help off.

"Alright," Kouichi muttered, turning back around and heading down the tunnel.

As he watched Kouichi walk down the tunnel, Kouji was filled with a sudden dread. He couldn't pinpoint it, but he had a feeling that something was about to happen. Something bad. "Kouichi!"

Kouichi turned instantly. "Yeah, Kouji?"

"Just…be careful, okay?" Kouji said, unable to put into words the feeling he'd gotten.

Kouichi smirked slightly. "Will do." With that, Kouichi made it to the correct cavern entrance, entered, and was out of sight.

Kouji stared down the tunnel for a moment, then quickly turned and ran down the hall. He didn't know where he was going, he just ran. _First Palmon's prophecy, then Zoe and Kouichi, now I'm getting this bad feeling that Kouichi's going to…I can't handle all this!_

Suddenly, Kouji slammed into something solid, knocking whatever it was over as he fell on top of it. He shook his head slightly, regaining his bearings. Then he looked down and saw that he was lying on top of…

"Uh…nice of you to drop in, pretty boy," Kira said from under Kouji, seeming a little flustered. "You might want to, I don't know, get off of me?"

"Sorry!" Kouji said quickly, jumping up and taking a few steps back. He lowered his head, looking embarrassed.

"Wow, did anyone sense the sexual tension in that scene?" Witchmon asked sarcastically, staring at Kouji and Kira. "Does Taki perhaps have competition?"

"Hell no!" Kouji and Kira exclaimed at the same time.

(I'm not hinting at anything, calm down.)

—

"I just don't know what to do," Zoe muttered, back turned toward the cavern opening. "I mean, if this is what Kouichi wants to do to help out, I should stand by it…"

"Um, Zoe," Takuya said, trying to get Zoe's attention.

Zoe ignored him and continued, "But…I know this is an irrational fear and that he couldn't possibly be thinking this…"

"Zee," JP said a bit more urgently.

"I just get the feeling that Kouichi's trying to…look for Duskmon. You know, seek him out. That's not the scariest part, though."

"Zoe," Shino said loudly.

"I've got this feeling that Kouichi is going to face Duskmon and…sacrifice himself in order to kill him."

"That's what you think?" Zoe's eyes grew wide when she heard Kouichi's voice behind her. She turned slowly, knowing already what she would see, yet unwilling to see it. Kouichi was standing right in front of the cavern opening, looking pained. "You think that I'd go that far?"

After a moment of silence, Takuya suddenly exclaimed, "Well, it looks like we're not needed anymore. C'mon guys, let's go be…somewhere else!"

"I concur!" JP said, shuffling out of the room along with the others.

Before leaving, Shino glanced one last time at Kouichi and Zoe standing there, Zoe looking so hurt and guilty. _Because of you,_ he thought, glaring at Kouichi before exiting the cavern.

As soon as Shino was out in the tunnel, though, he instantly regretted having this thought. _Oh god…what the hell was I thinking? Oh no…what if Wizardmon is…?_

"Thank god Chief showed up," Takuya said, breaking Shino out of his thoughts momentarily.

"Got that right," JP agreed, sighing with relief. "That was beginning to get pretty tense."

"I do feel kind of bad for Zoe, though," Hotaru muttered.

"Hey, if anybody can work out relationship problems, it'll be those two," JP said firmly. "Have you seen them? They're completely head-over-freakin'-heels for each other."

"JP's got a point," Dai said, glancing at his camera. "Out of all the pictures I've taken, more than half of them have Kouichi and Zoe together in them."

"Since when were you taking pictures of us?" Tommy asked. "I don't remember you telling us to pose for the camera or anything."

"Uh…" Dai mumbled, shrinking under the others' suspicious gazes. Suddenly, he said, "Oh, hey Kira! You're back!"

Everyone turned to see Kira walking toward them, dragging Kouji along behind her. Witchmon was also with her. "Howdy, boys," Kira greeted the others, holding up Kouji's arm. "Look, I found a little lost puppy! Can we keep it, Taki?"

"I don't know Kira, puppies are a big responsibility," Takuya said, chuckling. "I mean, you have to keep a constant eye on them to make sure they don't run away."

"You two can shut up any time now," Kouji muttered, annoyed.

"Fine," Takuya and Kira said, still smiling mischievously.

"Man Kouji, I think I have to agree with you on this particular flight," JP said, addressing Kouji. "Zoe was beginning to get pretty darn deep."

"I guess," Kouji mumbled, not willing to admit the real reason he'd left.

"Anyway," Kira said, getting back to her original point, "I just came to drop pretty boy off with the rest of you guys. I want to show Taki something."

Takuya gave Kira a quizzical look. "What do you want to show me?"

"It's a surprise," Kira replied, smiling coyly.

"Uh, alright then," Takuya agreed nervously, following Kira as she began walking down the tunnel. Takuya turned back to the others for a second and added, "See you guys later, I guess."

"Good luck is all I can say," JP said as Takuya and Kira disappeared around a fork in the tunnel. Then he turned back to the others and said, "So now what do we do?"

"I could give you guys a tour, too," Witchmon offered, shrugging. "I'll just be sitting here bored anyway, what with Gotsumon and Dragramon off doing something-or-other."

"I guess we can take you up on that," JP said.

"I got my camera poised and ready!" Dai added happily.

Everyone chuckled at Dai, turning and following Witchmon down the tunnel the opposite way that Takuya and Kira had gone. Shino, however, remained where he stood, unaware that the others had left.

Deep in his thoughts, Shino was beginning to realize something that had been nagging at the back of his mind since Witchmon had explained about the mark Wizardmon had given him. Months earlier, he'd been so distraught over losing Zoe to Kouichi that he'd just wanted it all to end. He'd been at such a low place, he'd wished for death.

But soon after that, instead of feeling depressed, he'd felt angry at Kouichi. So angry that he'd formed a plan to try to break Kouichi and Zoe apart. At times, though, he'd been scared of his own thoughts and wondered how he could be so demonic. He'd wondered how he could hate Kouichi so much, so suddenly.

_I'd been stressed to such a high level_, Shino thought, forming a scarier conclusion than all that evil being a natural part of him. _Wizardmon…was controlling me._

"What are you doing here alone?" Shino jumped, startled by the unfamiliar voice he heard. Then he noticed a Digimon standing in front of him, arms folded across its chest. He stared curiously at the turtle-like Digimon, confused by the angry expression it wore.

"What, can't you talk?" the Kamemon asked meanly, still glaring at Shino.

Shino didn't know why this Digimon seemed so mad until he glanced around and realized his friends had gone off somewhere, leaving him alone and unguarded. "I-I'm sorry," Shino stuttered, trying not to meet the Kamemon's gaze. "I didn't know they left…"

"Who, your friends?" The Kamemon laughed darkly, causing Shino to back up until he was against the wall, feeling cornered. Kamemon stepped forward threateningly. "A likely story coming from you. I honestly don't see why we're taking such a huge risk by keeping you around. We'd be just fine with nine Legendary Warriors, if you ask me."

Shino was about to reply when Kamemon held up its arm to stop him. "Actually, that's not a bad idea. You'll turn on us at some point, so why not just get rid of you before that happens."

Shino's eyes grew wide in horror as a compartment on the Kamemon's helmet opened, revealing a green arrow-shaped missile, pointing directly at his chest. His heart.

"It'll all have been an accident," the Kamemon muttered, preparing to launch its attack. "Pointer—"

"Back off!" Suddenly, JP and Hotaru slammed into the Kamemon, knocking it to the ground and halting its attack. Meanwhile, Witchmon, Kouji, Dai, and Tommy rushed over to Shino.

"Are you okay, Shino?" Tommy asked anxiously, noticing Shino's wide-eyed expression.

Shino blinked, looking at his friends crowded around him. "Yeah, I'm fine," he said softly, lowering his head. "I'm sorry."

"What?" Witchmon asked, confused. "If anyone should be sorry, it's this guy," she added, pointing at the Kamemon that JP and Hotaru had in their grips.

"Speaking of which, what should we do with him?" JP asked, glaring angrily at Kamemon. "If it involves some sort of torture, please tell me I'll be able to administer some of it."

"Better find Gotsumon and ask him," Witchmon replied. "He's the only one who'll give this guy a sensible verdict."

"Let him go," Shino suddenly spoke up, head still lowered.

"Uh, Shino, he kind of tried to…K-I-L-L you," Dai said gently, spelling out the word kill.

"Just let him go," Shino repeated, this time with more conviction.

"How about hell to the no?" Witchmon said sarcastically. "We're not letting this guy go."

"Please, just let it go! It's not as if I don't deserve it!" Shino yelled angrily, suddenly glaring at the others.

JP and Hotaru were so surprised, they did as Shino commanded and released Kamemon, who glanced quickly at Shino, then sprinted down the tunnel, away from the others.

The gang didn't really care, though, because now they were completely focused on Shino. "What do you mean you deserve it?" JP asked, confused. "You didn't do a damn thing."

"Yes I did," Shino said adamantly, hands shaking.

"What do you mean by that?" Kouji asked, eyes narrowing. "What did you do?"

Shino wanted to tell them, but was afraid of his friends knowing the truth. They may not hate him for being controlled by Wizardmon, but that was what he wanted them to do. They would never do it, so he'd just have to hate himself for being as weak as he was. So weak, that he'd believed Mai's lies…

Shino shook his head, calming down. "It's nothing," he muttered, putting on a fake smile to fool the others. "I guess everyone hating me for no reason is just taking its toll."

"Alright," JP said slowly after a moment, grabbing Shino's arm. "But from now on we gotta keep a closer eye on you."

"Right!" Dai agreed, grabbing Shino's other arm. Then he looked up at Shino and added, "We'll be like your bodyguards, like a V.I.P. would have!"

_I'm not very important at all, Dai._ "I guess," Shino said, forcing himself to chuckle along with the others.

"Well, let's get a move on with the tour," Witchmon exclaimed, making her way once more down the tunnel.

Shino let the others drag him after Witchmon, for the first time in a long time letting his memories resurface slightly.

_It's not that I don't like you, Shino, it's just that…you're not good enough._

—

_Moments earlier…_

Zoe looked down, not able to look into Kouichi's eyes any longer. Neither of them spoke for a few minutes, not knowing exactly what to say. Finally, Kouichi broke the silence and said with conviction, "I wouldn't do that, you know."

"What?" Zoe shot her gaze back up to Kouichi, who was staring intensely, yet at the same time pleadingly, at Zoe.

"What you said before…" Kouichi paused, trying to hide how much her comment had bothered him. "I'm not out to get killed, okay? Believe it or not, I actually kind of like my life, disaster-strewn as it is."

"That's not…" Zoe began to speak, but Kouichi held his finger to her lips gently to quiet her.

"I know what you meant," he said softly, dropping his hand. "If it came down to an all-out fight between Duskmon and me, and if you, or anyone else for that matter, were somehow being put in danger, I'd choose the option of taking myself down along with Duskmon in some heroic way as long as it meant saving you."

"You've done it before," Zoe mumbled, flashing back to the time Kouichi had sacrificed himself in the battle with Lucemon.

"I thought I was dead already, but now I'm sure I'm not," Kouichi said firmly, grabbing Zoe by the shoulders. "If you told me to, I'd run. I wouldn't let Duskmon have the satisfaction of killing me, nor would I kill myself."

Kouichi stared at Zoe a moment longer before lowering his head and letting his arms drop to his sides. He took a breath and said in a voice barely above a whisper, "But that's what you think I'm capable of. You're always worried about me because you think I'm a mess."

Zoe's eyes widened in shock. "What are you saying?"

Kouichi took another shaky breath and continued. "I'm saying that all I ever do is drag you down because you think I'm a complete emotional wreck. At one time, I would've wholeheartedly agreed with your assumption. But…" Here Kouichi lifted his head and gave Zoe one of his rare, genuine smiles. "I've changed, Zoe. I'm not gonna let my past rule me. In fact, I think after I get back, I'm gonna tell the other four about me and Duskmon. No more secrets. Would that make you feel better?"

"Kouichi…" Tears were beginning to well up in Zoe's eyes. How long had Kouichi thought this? It was true that at first, she had thought Kouichi was a complete and utter mess and had only wanted to comfort him, but she'd seen the strength he possessed, and had never thought of him as unstable. She'd said what she said because she knew how self-sacrificing Kouichi could be. It had nothing to do with thinking Kouichi was weak in any way. She thought he was too strong.

"Zoe?" Kouichi watched in confusion as tears began streaming down Zoe's face. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean…"

"Taking all the blame on yourself," Zoe choked through her tears, interrupting Kouichi mid-sentence. "Why do you have to do that? Why can't you see your own strength? Why…?"

Suddenly, to his complete surprise, Zoe wrapped her arms around Kouichi and kissed him almost forcefully, putting all her emotion into this one gesture. Kouichi could barely react, he was so confused.

After a moment, Zoe pulled back and took a steadying breath, trying to calm herself down. Kouichi just stared wide-eyed at her, looking completely flustered, along with blushing insanely.

Finally, Zoe turned around, no longer able to face Kouichi. "I think it's probably about time for you to go," she said quietly, without turning around.

Zoe heard footsteps behind her, but instead of retreating footsteps, they seemed to be coming near her. Then she felt Kouichi place his hand in hers and squeeze tightly, probably trying to reassure her. It worked a little bit.

"I think we need to talk," Kouichi stated.

"You're right," Zoe agreed, still not turning around. "We can talk when you get back."

"We will talk," Kouichi said firmly, squeezing Zoe's hand once more before letting her go. She listened silently as the cloth over the cavern opening rustled, indicating Kouichi's departure.

"Good luck," she said softly, though she knew he could no longer hear her. But it was the thought that counted.

—

Kira's head began to swim from lack of oxygen so, reluctantly, she lowered her face from Takuya's, taking a few gulps of air. Takuya was breathing a bit hard, too.

"Okay, not trying to be rude or anything, but what the hell was that for?" Takuya asked between breaths, referring to the kiss they'd just shared.

"Haven't you been keeping track of the days?" Kira said, shaking her head in mock chastisement. "It's August 12. Your birthday. You're thirteen."

"So what, this is like the initiation process for a thirteen-year-old?" Takuya asked sarcastically.

"No, I didn't have a present and figured this would be just as good," Kira replied, frowning. "And here I thought you'd like my surprise."

Takuya smirked. "I never said I didn't like it." With this statement, he leaned toward Kira and they continued where they had left off.

A second later, Dragramon poked her head into the cavern Kira and Takuya were in. She stared wide-eyed at them before saying, "Two of the Legendary Warriors are making out in my room…you don't see that every day."

—

_madjack89:_ And we end it here!

_Takuya:_ You know Madjack, I'm beginning to like this story.

_Kira:_ I gotta agree with Taki on that one.

_Kouji, Zoe, Kouichi, and Shino:_ _glare at me_

_madjack89:_ Heh heh…you guys aren't mad, are you?

_Kouji:_ Let's just think of it as us coming to expect things like this from you at this point.

_Zoe:_ And you always have to make me the love interest in your sick games.

_madjack89:_ It's either you or Kira. Does anyone but Taki have any romantic feelings for Kira?

_Everyone:_ …

_Takuya:_ …I do.

_madjack89:_ Okay, now you're just acting dumb.

_Takuya:_ Yeah, a little!

_madjack89: sigh_ Dai, take us out.

_Dai:_ With pleasure! In the next chapter, Duskmon's plan is put into action, but who will he go after first? It's a mystery…mua ha ha.

_Hotaru:_ No more late night Death Note for you.

_Dai:_ Awww…

_JP:_ Good bye and good night.


	19. Ch 19: Turning the Tables

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 19: Turning the Tables**

_Everyone:_ Happy birthday, Madjack!

_madjack89:_ …Huh?

_Kira:_ We kind of forgot to tell you happy birthday last chapter, so we're telling you now!

_madjack89:_ Aw, thanks guys!

_JP:_ Yeah, and we all pitched in and got you a present! _hands over plastic bag_

_madjack89:_ You guys have no clue how to wrap a present, do you?

_Everyone:_ …

_madjack89:_ Oh well, let's see what I got! Hm…a piece of string…a Canadian nickel…a slightly melted chocolate bar _glances at JP_

_JP:_ It's the thought that counts.

_madjack89:_ …three AAA batteries…and…Kouji, why is there a picture of you wearing a sailor hat in here?

_Kouji: grabs picture_ Who the hell put that in there?!

_madjack89:_ I'm guessing what you meant by everyone pitched in is that everyone dug something out of their pockets and you took the best stuff you could find and gave it to me, right?

_Takuya:_ …Sort of.

_madjack89:_ Man, I didn't know you guys were that desperately poor…except Kira…and maybe Kouichi…

_Kira:_ For your information, I provided the Canadian nickel.

_Shino:_ Where did you get a Canadian nickel, anyway?

_Kira:_ I found it…when it dropped out of the pocket of a tourist…that I pick pocketed…

_Everyone: stares at Kira_

_Kira:_ Oh, like you've never done anything wrong! Especially you, Taru!

_Hotaru: sigh_ I never pick pocketed a Canadian tourist.

_madjack89:_ I'm thinking this'll be a good time to start answering reviews.

_Kouji:_ Yes, please.

-

_CHIBI-CRAZY:_ I'll blame L and Light if I want to! (lol) I shall be super careful with those donuts, never fear. I love writing Witchmon's lines, so I'm glad people are really beginning to like her more! Eh, Dragramon's probably seen worse. (_Dragramon:_ What is that supposed to mean?!) Oh nothing. Anyway, I'm well aware that the warrior of fire and warrior of water are going out, and it was intentional. I'm surprised no one's mentioned it until now! Good job! Okay, thanks for reviewing!

_GoldenDragon326:_ Yes, Duskmon shall wreak havoc soon (ominous music plays…) mua ha ha! Okay, anyway, they'll find out about Kouichi's link to Duskmon…soonish! Can't rush things like that! Thanks for reviewing! (I think Dai's a bigger Death Noter than me.)

_Aldamonburst:_ You mean Hotaru? Actually, you sort of hit the nail on the head with that guess! (You'll find out much later what I mean by that.) Oh boy, a special message! Thanks Night! And thanks Burst!

_TobiGB:_ Eventually I'll let Kouichi Fusion Evolve, just not quite yet. Be patient though! Ha, I wonder who Kouji's Yoda would be? And while we're on that subject, if Kouji were Luke, then Kouichi would have to be Leia… (_Kouji and Kouichi:_ Don't even think about it.) Alright, alright…well, thanks for the review and the cookies!

_hazeleyedharmony:_ Thanks!  
part 1: I'm glad you think that! It took a while for me to get it right. Tommy's always amazing! (lol)  
part 2: (_Kouji:_ Noooooooooooooooo.)  
part 3: Yay Crispin! (_Kouichi:_ Obsessed much?) Quiet you. Anyway, you guys are really making me feel bad about all this Shino torture, but I can't stop because it's necessary! Oh, and I'm glad you liked the puppy thing!  
part 4: Aw, thank you! And I definitely agree!  
part 5: Yeah Kira, we don't need you killing the "leader."  
All I can say about this Duskmon thing is…mua ha ha! Alright, thanks!

_apapa155:_ Oh, I'll have to check out your fic sometime! And thanks for all the info on Kokanakluemon! Thanks! (Aw, poor Star Wars.)

_Digimon122:_ Yes, it happened in Frontier 02: Home Frontier. It's all good, I forget things a lot, too! Thanks for reviewing!

_DigiBleach:_ Actually, only Shino knows for sure, Kira suspects something, and Hotaru and Dai are just clueless (lol)! Thanks for reviewing! (You didn't already review, btw.)

_AliceCullen:_ Hey, I'm 17 and I don't do that kind of kissing! But, everybody gets into this kind of stuff at different ages and, for the sake of this story, they're gonna do it now! Sorry if that offends you!

_fg1fg:_ The others haven't been keeping track of the days, either. (For some reason, only Kira was…) Heh, I just felt like messing with Kira and Kouji! Thanks for the review!

_garnettfox:_ Glad you liked it! Just tell your grandparents that Madjack did it (lol)! I'll be waiting for your PM! Thanks for reviewing!

-

_madjack89:_ Alright, time to get this chapter under way!

_Dai:_ Wait, we didn't sing the birthday song!

_Zoe:_ The birthday song is apparently copyrighted, so we're not allowed to sing it.

_Dai:_ But isn't Madjack already breaking a bunch of copyrights by using you guys in this story?

_madjack89:_ Fanfiction, Dai, fanfiction!

_Dai:_ Oh, right!

—

"There has to be something we can do, Gotsumon!" Takuya said forcefully, standing in front of the rock Digimon.

Gotsumon just pushed past Takuya and continued down the tunnel. "First of all, there's nothing for anyone to do until that recon team gets back. Second, you guys are our ace in the hole. Ilsemon may not know yet that you've arrived at our base, which gives us an upper hand. You want to blow that all because you're itching to stretch your legs?"

Takuya's shoulders sagged, defeated. "Well, when you put it like that…" he muttered dejectedly.

"But Chief should be back here in no time, so then we'll be able to get this show on the road!" Kira said enthusiastically, leaning casually on Takuya's shoulder.

"Right!" Takuya agreed, smiling at Kira. Then he began to follow after Gotsumon with Kira in tow. "Alright, so we can't do any big fighty, blowing upy things yet, but we could do grunt work to keep us occupied. What do you say?"

Gotsumon glanced back at Takuya, giving him an incredulous look. "You really are bored, aren't you?"

"Yes," Takuya and Kira said, eyes wide and pleading.

"Fine," Gotsumon said, sighing. "You guys can go babysit and give Swanmon a break."

"Swanmon is here?" Takuya asked, cocking his head. "And all the Baby Digimon from the Village of Beginnings?"

"Swanmon no longer thought the village was safe for them, and neither did we," Gotsumon replied. "So, we moved all the Digi-Eggs and Baby Digimon here, where they could be protected."

"Okay, I remember you guys telling us about the whole Village of Beginnings episode you had," Kira began, "but did Gotsumon just say we had to babysit?"

"It's either that or be bored. Your choice." With that, Gotsumon continued to walk down the hall, leaving Takuya and Kira pondering what to do.

"What do you think, Taki?" Kira asked. "You did it before."

Takuya thought for a moment, then said, "We gotta help out in some way. Let's go get the others and…babysit."

—

"Children!" Swanmon ran up to the gang when she saw them, a big grin on her face (or beak or whatever). "I'd heard that you had finally returned!"

"Yeah, we're back," JP said, smirking. "And better yet, we're here to help you on babysitting duty again."

"Oh, really?" Swanmon said, eyes sparkling. "That would be great! And I see that there are four new additions to your group. That should make things much easier!"

"Actually, I tend to…scare children," Kira muttered sheepishly.

"Me too," Hotaru added, looking down.

"I'm okay with them, I guess," Shino said, shrugging.

"I'm great with kids!" Dai exclaimed, grinning giddily. "Everyone says it's because of my cheerful disposition!"

"Or the fact that you act like a kid," Takuya muttered under his breath.

"Oh, I'm sure you'll all do fine!" Swanmon said reassuringly, ushering the gang toward a second tunnel, other than the entrance, jutting from the small cavern they were currently in.

After walking down the tunnel a short way, the gang emerged into another cavern, this one much larger than the first. It was set up like it had been in the Village of Beginnings, with baskets holding sleeping Baby Digimon scattered all around. The addition was the mounds of Digi-Eggs stacked against the far wall instead of hanging on vines as they had been.

"Wow," Kira said, looking around the cavern in awe.

"It isn't much, but it does us fine," Swanmon said, gesturing for the gang to enter the cavern. "As you can see, the babies are napping. When they wake up, they'll probably need a feeding."

"Oh goody, feeding time. Can't wait," Kira muttered sarcastically.

"You really aren't good with kids, are you?" JP asked Kira.

Kira sighed, shaking her head. "I have a bad history with children, dating back to the time I tried babysitting to earn a quick buck. You see, those little bratty four-year-olds were bugging me, and one thing just led to another…I think he's off the crutches by now…"

"Okay, I think that Takuya should partner up with Kira when handling the babies!" Swanmon exclaimed, glancing nervously between Kira and the Baby Digimon.

"Sure," Kira replied nonchalantly, not really getting Swanmon's real intention behind this.

—

After the babies had woken up, the gang was scattered around the large cavern, getting each of the babies fed.

"Aw, maybe kids aren't so bad," Kira cooed, wiggling her finger playfully at one of the Baby Digimon.

Takuya glanced at Kira and smirked, then frowned when he noticed what Digimon she was waggling her finger at. "Kira, I don't think that's a good—"

Before he could finish his sentence, the Tokomon opened its mouth wide, revealing several rows of sharp teeth. Then it clamped its jaw onto Kira's hand.

"Son of a bitch!" Kira cried, shaking her arm rapidly to try to shake the Tokomon off. Thinking this was a game, the Tokomon bit down harder.

"Holy shit, get this freaking thing off me!" Kira exclaimed, running around in a circle while flailing her arms.

"Kira, calm down!" Takuya yelled, trying to grab the Tokomon. "Just stop moving for a second and I'll get it off you!"

Kira continued to run, in too much of a panic to listen to Takuya. "Uh…" Takuya muttered, not knowing what to do. "Guys, I think I need some help over here!"

"We're on it!" JP exclaimed, heading over to Kira with Hotaru in tow. "Think you can grab her arm, Taru?"

Hotaru nodded, eyes narrowing. He raised his arm slowly, waiting for the right moment to strike. Then, in the blink of an eye, he had Kira's arm firmly in his grip, despite Kira's struggling.

The others, who had come to see what all the commotion was about, stared at Hotaru in bewilderment. "Uh…nice job, Taru…" JP said, sweatdropping.

"Did you even see his arm move?" Tommy asked Shino quietly.

"Not really," Shino replied. "Makes you glad he's on our side, huh?"

"Stupid-ass Digimon!" Kira muttered angrily, wiggling around in Hotaru's grip.

"Hang on, I'll get it off," JP said, scratching the Tokomon behind its ear-like protrusions. The Tokomon squealed in delight, releasing Kira's hand and falling into JP's arms, nuzzling against him. "There we go, all better," JP said, smiling at the Tokomon.

Kira wasn't smiling. "I'll kill that little freak of nature!" Kira exclaimed, reaching out to strangle the Tokomon. However, Hotaru still had her in his grip, and he quickly grabbed her other arm and began to drag her away.

"Scratch what I said before; children suck!" Kira cried, struggling against Hotaru to no avail. "Damn it, Taru!"

From the other side of the cavern, Zoe watched the rest of her friends wordlessly. Normally, she would have been one of the first people to help try to calm Kira down, but she just wasn't feeling up to much of anything at the moment.

The Datirimon she was holding seemed to notice her sadness and, in order to cheer her up, puffed up its cheeks, making it bloat to twice its normal size. Zoe chuckled slightly, amused by Datirimon's actions.

"Looks like that thing's good at picking up on emotions." Zoe stopped chuckled, startled by the voice she heard behind her. She turned quickly to see Kouji standing behind her, a bottle in his hand. "If you're going to feed a baby, you typically need one of these," Kouji continued sarcastically, noticing that Zoe lacked a bottle.

Zoe glanced at the Digimon she held, then grinned sheepishly. "I guess that would help," she agreed, taking the bottle from Kouji and feeding it to the Datirimon.

The two stood there in silence for several minutes, Zoe feeding Datirimon, Kouji watching her. When Zoe was finished, she carefully placed Datirimon back in its basket. Then she turned to Kouji and said, "Kouji, I haven't really gotten much time alone with you, but I need to talk to you about what happened…the other day."

"What happened?" Kouji asked, though Zoe could tell he knew what she meant.

"When we first got to the Dark Continent, and Kouichi seemed depressed," Zoe began, feeling nervous about butting in like this, "you looked like you were going to go talk to him, but then you saw that I was too and…you stopped."

"He doesn't need two people talking at him all the time," Kouji said nonchalantly, shrugging. "I figured you could handle it."

"That's not what it seemed like," Zoe said firmly, taking a step toward Kouji. "At the time, you seemed kind of, well, upset."

Kouji didn't answer, staring down at the floor. "Kouji," Zoe said, taking on a more gentle tone of voice. "I just want to know what's going on. You've been acting a little weird lately, and if anything's bugging you, I want to know about it so I can help. Kouichi would want that, too."

"Don't use the past tense when you're talking about Kouichi!" Kouji snapped suddenly, glaring angrily at Zoe.

Zoe took a few steps back, startled by Kouji's sudden anger. "I was just…he's not here, so…I'm sorry, Kouji."

Zoe's flustered reply seemed to defuse Kouji, for he took a deep breath in order to calm down. "No, don't be. I'm just feeling really…off is probably the best word to describe it. Especially with Kouichi wandering around out there by himself."

"He's not by himself," Zoe said. "He's got some other Digimon with him."

"You and I both know that if he's attacked by one of Ilsemon's little cronies, he might as well be by himself," Kouji muttered.

Zoe wanted to disagree with Kouji, but she had to admit that he was right. If Wizardmon, or Ranamon, or Hallucimon, or Duskmon…

She quickly shook her head, not wanting to think of the possibilities. "Well, then we just have to believe that Kouichi will get back here, safe and sound. He did promise me that he'd run if something got too dangerous."

"He promised you that?" Kouji asked, seeming genuinely surprised by Zoe's statement.

"Um, yeah," Zoe replied, confused by Kouji's reaction. "When we talked before he left, he said that if I told him to, he'd run instead of stick around and get hurt or…worse."

Kouji lowered his gaze. "He would never promise me anything like that," he muttered quietly. Zoe noticed then that Kouji looked almost put-out. But put-out by what, she wondered.

"Kouji," Zoe began gently.

"Go away, now," Kouji growled suddenly, not lifting his head.

"What?" Zoe said, shocked. "But Kouji…"

"Just go the hell away," Kouji said, this time more forcefully. "You've done enough to me already."

Zoe's eyes widened, confused beyond belief by Kouji's last statement. What had she done to him? Was she the one making him upset? Feeling upset herself, she turned and walked quickly away from Kouji, not looking back once.

Searching through her memories, she couldn't think of anything she'd done or said that would get Kouji mad at her. But there was still that incident with Kouichi…

Suddenly, Zoe bumped into something, stopping her in her tracks. She looked up and was soon staring right into Shino's light brown eyes. "Hey there, Zoe," Shino greeted her, smiling lopsidedly. "Sorry if I bumped into you a little…"

Shino's sentence trailed off when he noticed how distraught Zoe looked. "Are you okay, Zoe? You look a little upset."

Zoe was about to say that she was fine, but decided honesty would be the best policy. Besides, Shino was always so easy to talk to and confide in. She could always count on him. "Shino, have I, maybe, done anything lately that might have gotten Kouji angry in any way?"

"Not that I know of," Shino replied, giving her a quizzical look. "Why?"

"Because I think he's…mad at me for some reason," Zoe said, looking down. "I was just talking to him, and he seemed so upset, and then he snapped at me and told me I'd done enough already…what did I do?"

"Nothing, as far as I know," Shino muttered, eyes narrowing slowly. "What the hell is Kouji thinking, saying that to you when you didn't do anything?"

Zoe's eyes widened in surprise. Usually, Shino was a pretty calm, friendly kind of guy. He didn't usually get angry like this. At least, not to the best of Zoe's knowledge.

"What he said to me isn't the point, Shino," Zoe said quickly. "I just want to know what's going on with Kouji so we can help him, and maybe even to apologize if I did anything to get him angry."

"That's my point, Zoe," Shino said, staring at Zoe. "You didn't do anything, and Kouji shouldn't just go around snapping at everyone that tries to help him."

"But I really think I might have done something…" Zoe began.

"No, Zoe!" Shino yelled, beginning to get visibly frustrated. "Can't you just except that it's not your fault? Do you really have to blame yourself, just because Kouji snapped at you? God, this is pissing me off!"

"Shino…" Zoe backed up a step, getting a bit scared. She'd never seen Shino act like this before. What was happening with everyone, and why did it all seem to center around her?

Shino's expression softened when he saw Zoe's frightened face. "Zoe…I'm sorry," he said quietly, staring wide-eyed at his hands. "It's happening again? Why…?"

Zoe tensed when Shino gave her a calculating look, as if he were coming to some sort of conclusion in his head. _Why is Shino acting like this?_ she asked herself, getting nervous now.

"Zoe!" Shino suddenly exclaimed, backing up several steps. "You have to get out of here. Now!"

"Shino, what's wrong?" Zoe asked. "Did I do something?"

"Of course, that's the first thing that pops into your head!" Shino snapped, glaring at Zoe. A second later, though, his expression turned to one of horror. "Please, just go, Zoe. I understand now…it happens more when you're around…just get out of here, now!"

Zoe paused, suddenly getting as frustrated as Shino had been a minute ago. "Fine then! It's obvious to me that no one wants me around today, anyway!"

Without waiting to see Shino's response, Zoe turned and ran across the cavern, dodging between baskets as she went. She was almost to the cavern exit when Dai stepped in front of her, holding up a Bommon.

"Hey Zoe, check out this awesome—" Dai began.

"What, Dai? You here to tell me I'm ugly and have no friends?" Zoe snapped, glaring at Dai.

"Um, no," Dai said, confused. "I just wanted to show you—"

"No, no need to tell me to leave, because I'm already gone!" With that, Zoe pushed past Dai and stormed out of the cavern, looking furious.

Dai stared after her for a second, then held the Bommon at eye level and said, "I guess she's having mood swings, huh?"

The Bommon just stared back at Dai, tail/fuse burning.

—

Half an hour later, Zoe had finally found the tunnel that led to the surface. She checked to make sure no one was around, then quickly climbed the ladder that led up into the darkness. After several minutes of climbing, she came to a small ledge jutting out of the wall.

She looked up, trying to figure out where the opening to the tunnels was. It had to be hidden, but she didn't know what it was supposed to look like. Finally, she noticed a barely visible hole in the ceiling of dirt above her. She examined it closer and realized that she could see the swirling darkness of the sky through it.

Now came the tricky part; opening it and closing it back up. She tried pushing up on the ceiling where the hole was and, sure enough, it began to move upward. Bits of dirt fell on Zoe's head as she pushed harder, until she managed to push an entire circular part of the ceiling up and over the opening in the ceiling.

Zoe jumped a few times, finally managing to grab the edge of the opening and haul herself into the open. She looked at the dirt covering to the opening. She wondered why it didn't just crumble like regular dirt, or how when anyone walked on it, they didn't end up falling into the tunnel.

_It's probably just more weird Digital World stuff_, she thought with a shrug, sliding the cover back into place. Just to test her theory, she jumped on the spot a couple of times, but nothing happened.

"This really is a good hide-out," she said to herself, looking around. She saw that she was standing in the forest, surrounded by tall, foreboding trees. She walked over to one and sat, leaning against its cool bark.

Then she started to cry. She let her tears stream down her face and fall to her lap, vision blurring.

She couldn't be down in those tunnels anymore. All she seemed to be doing was causing Kouji and Shino grief, and she didn't even know what she'd done. There was only one person she needed then. The only one who could comfort her and tell her it was alright. And she'd wrap her arms around him, and feel his arms around her, and feel the warmth he possessed…

But Kouichi wasn't there. He had gone off on a mission, leaving her behind. Just when she needed him the most, he was gone, and she was left alone to cry.

"Kouichi." Zoe whispered his name to herself, as if that would bring him back faster. "I need you…"

Suddenly, Zoe felt the air above her swish by quickly, the way it did when something was flying at high speed through the air. She looked up slowly and saw her face reflected in a crooked, red sword, her hat impaled on the blade.

Her panic increased when, to her right, she heard a voice say, "What's a pretty young thing like you doing out here alone?"

Instinctually, Zoe grabbed her D-Tector and was about to Evolve when a second blade whistled by, this one placed threateningly under her chin, the sharp edge of the blade a bit too close to her neck for her liking.

Defeated, she dropped her D-Tector, holding her hands in the air. "Looks like this will be easier than I anticipated," the same voice said, retracting its blades.

_Kouichi…I'm sorry._ This was the last thought Zoe had before she was hit over the head with the flat of a blade, knocking her unconscious.

Before she fell over, Duskmon reached out one of his arms and caught her. "It looks as if the tables have turned, Kouichi."

—

"This is not good," Takuya stated, staring at the blackened stump sitting before him.

"We leave her alone for five seconds, and she gets kidnapped," JP added without emotion, feeling a little drained by the situation.

"She seemed kind of mad when she left the cavern with the Baby Digimon," Dai explained, looking a bit ashamed. "I just thought she was having weird mood swings."

"I yelled at her," Kouji and Shino said at the same time, surprising everyone.

Kouji glanced at Shino. "You yelled at her?"

Shino nodded, looking miserable. "She confided in me after you got all mad at her, and she kept blaming herself for getting you upset or something, and it just got me so frustrated. Then I snapped at her, and she got mad at me and left. This is my fault."

"It's no one's fault," Hotaru said solemnly. "Things like this just happen sometimes."

"But why'd it have to happen to Zoe?" Kira growled, pounding her bandaged fist into her other hand. "I'll kill Duskmon for this!"

"We don't know for sure that it was Duskmon," Takuya said numbly, still staring at the stump.

"Who else would leave a gaping slit through Zoe's hat?" Kira retorted, gesturing at the hat they'd found when they'd decided to try searching for Zoe above ground. "It's just big enough for a sword!"

"And he has the motive," Kouji muttered, looking just as miserable as Shino.

"What do think Kouichi's gonna do when he gets back?" Tommy asked suddenly. The others fell silent, not having thought about that yet.

"Hey guys. What are you looking at?" Everyone turned slowly, recognizing the voice they heard behind them.

"Kouichi," Kouji said simply.

"Yeah, I'm back," Kouichi said, smiling. "Told you I'd be okay." When the others didn't reply, Kouichi began to slowly realize something was wrong. Then he noticed something. "Wait, where's Zoe?"

—

_madjack89:_ Uh oh, looks like Zee's in trouble!

_Kouichi:_ …

_madjack89:_ Just shake it off, Chief. Anyway, Taki!

_Takuya:_ Yeah?

_madjack89:_ You got me a present for my birthday, so I got you something for yours!

_Takuya:_ Really? Sweet! And you're the author, so you can get something good!

_madjack89:_ Yes, I believe you will like this…a Bop It!

_Takuya:_ …A what?

_madjack89:_ See, when you turn it on, it'll give you three commands: bop it, twist it, or pull it.

_JP:_ That sounds really inappropriate.

_madjack89:_ Stop being so perverted!

_JP:_ Pervert lobe.

_madjack89:_ ANYWAY, when it tells you to bop it, you press this button; when it tells you to twist it, you twist this little lever; and when it tells you to pull it, you pull this little lever. Simple!

_Takuya:_ Alright, I'll give it a try.

_madjack89:_ Don't forget to share it! _Man, it's gonna be hilarious if Taki and Kouji get in a Bop It war!_

_Kira:_ I wanna try, too!

_madjack89: It just got better!_

_Shino:_ …Uh, since Madjack's busy cackling over there in the corner, I'll end the chapter. Let's see…in the next chapter, Kouichi will set off in order to find and confront Duskmon, while Zoe will have a bit of a revealing conversation with Duskmon…whatever that means. Alright, see you in the next chapter.


	20. Ch 20: Pity

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 20: Pity**

_madjack89:_ Oh my god, chapter 20! Man, you guys do not even know how long this story is really gonna be!

_Kouji:_ And I'm sure you have much more torture in store for all of us.

_madjack89:_ Well…yeah!

_Kouji: sigh_

_madjack89:_ By the way, Kouji, weren't you Bopping It? Why'd you stop?

_Kouji:_ I stopped because, halfway through my little competition with Takuya, I realized you were sitting in a lawn chair eating popcorn and laughing at us, so I decided not to give you the satisfaction of watching me play that devil game.

_madjack89:_ Aw…

_Shino:_ Takuya, Kira, and JP are still doing a three-way tiebreaker.

_madjack89:_ When did JP get roped into it?

_Dai:_ He stepped in for Hotaru after he got the maximum amount of points the Bop It awards on his first try!

_madjack89:_ …Dang it, Taru, you're good!

_Hotaru:_ I just have okay reflexes, nothing special.

_madjack89:_ Aw, you're so humble! Anyway, time to get to reviews, then we'll see who's number two at Bop It!

-

_apapa155:_ I'm glad! Thanks!

_DigiBleach:_ Kira doesn't have the patience to deal with children, especially when they almost rip off her hand. (lol) Hey, Kouichi! Can DigiBleach have your hat when Duskmon completely murders you? (_Kouichi:_ …) I'll take that as a yes! Okay, thanks for reviewing!

_CHIBI-CRAZY: _Wow, have you ever read my other story, Digital Clue, because then you'll see that I also enjoy picking on Matt! And I only pick on Kouichi so much because he makes it pretty darn easy! Anyway, don't worry too much, Zoe'll be fine! Thanks for reviewing!

_Aldamonburst:_ Thanks Burst! And thank you very much, Haio! (Hee, he thinks I'm hawt!)

_TobiGB:_ …Wow Kouichi, it looks like either Duskmon will kill you, or Itachi will finish the job for him…good luck with that! (_Kouichi:_ -_-) Anyway, thanks for the kunai and shuriken! And thanks for reviewing! (And as always, thanks for the cookies!)

_hazeleyedharmony:_ As you can see, I wanted to get to at least chapter 20 before school started for me, so that meant faster updates!  
-Yeah Kouichi, like how when I'm watching a new series and randomly hear Crispin's voice, I instantly want that character to keep talking so I can hear his voice! (lol)  
-It sure is…  
-That's my Taru!  
-Yeah, that's why I had to put all the funny, light-hearted stuff in the beginning to balance all that out.  
-(_Shino:_ At least someone does…) AW, Shino!  
-Oh well, he'll get over it, because he's Dai!  
-That's how good a couple they are! They don't even need to be together to be cute, it just happens!  
-If you like drama, then I think you'll be quite pleased with what happens next! (Heh heh…)  
-I don't know and I don't want to know…  
-Well, it's not a big secret so I'll answer: yes, this will be a three-parter. But, like I said earlier, there's a lot more stuff I need to get through before we move on to the third part.  
Alright, thanks for reviewing!

_GoldenDragon326:_ Yay for Bop It! I should get them Bop It Extreme for twice the Bopping action! (lol) Oh well, we'll see. Thanks for reviewing!

_Dawn of Glory:_ For once, I actually did hurry with the next chapter! (lol) Thanks!

_ladyaura:_ Sorry about your internet problems. Been there, trust me. But anyway, take as much time as you need reading everything you missed! It's not going anywhere, after all! Kouji says thanks again for the weapons, and a big thank you from me for reviewing!

_beybladeingninjaprincess:_ Aw, poor Shino! But I guess he deserved it (lol). Sure, we can go joint custody on Duskmon! Might I suggest Squishy as his name? (_Duskmon:_ …) Heh heh…anyway, thanks for reviewing!

-

_madjack89:_ Alright, it looks like the Bop It number two champion is…Kira!

_Shino:_ Do all Yankees have good reflexes?

_Hotaru:_ The better ones typically do.

_Dai:_ With reflexes like that, you could be like Neji Hyuga and go all Byakugan on anyone who crosses you!

_Kouichi:_ What about Hinata?

_Dai:_ Okay, Hotaru can be Neji and Kira can be Hinata!

_madjack89:_ I'm just gonna start the chapter before you guys get into a whole Naruto debate.

_Kira:_ I am the Bop It queen!

_Kouji:_ How did I almost get caught up in that…?

—

For awhile, Kouichi didn't think any of this could be real. It was just another one of those nightmares his subconscious would always drum up for him. It couldn't be true.

But the proof was right in front of him, clutched in his hand. Zoe's torn, pink, cat-eared hat. He'd always thought it was kind of cute, especially when Zoe wore it. Now, it was just a reminder of what had happened.

He hadn't been there to protect her. He had left her, even with all her fears and worries about his safety. His safety? It was her own safety she should have been worried about. Now, she was gone.

He wouldn't blame any of this on Kouji or Shino. Neither of them had known that Zoe would leave the tunnels after getting so mad at them. Besides, he could imagine why they'd snapped at Zoe in the first place. He was the one who hadn't been there to comfort her. If he had been there, Zoe wouldn't have gone to the surface, and she wouldn't be in Duskmon's clutches.

She might have been scared at that very moment. Zoe didn't really like to show when she was scared, but anyone would be frightened when held at sword-point by Duskmon. And it was because of him that Duskmon had captured her, and was perhaps torturing her this very moment.

In reality, everything was Kouichi's fault. And it wasn't just a nightmare; it was all too real.

—

"Just look at him," JP whispered, peering around the cloth at Kouichi, who sat alone in the cavern that had become the Digidestined's bedroom. "He looks so…depressed."

"Of course he's depressed," Takuya said, sighing. "How would you feel if Duskmon kidnapped Tomoyo?"

"I'd poke out his eyeballs one by one," JP replied curtly, letting the cloth fall back over the opening. "Still, we can't just leave him in there like that. Someone needs to go talk to him."

"Unless someone says something along the lines of 'Hey, no worries, Kouichi, we just found Duskmon, kicked the crap out of him, and brought Zoe back,' I doubt he'll want to listen to anything we say," Kira pointed out.

"Alright, we'll play rock, paper, scissors to see who'll go talk to Chief," JP said, holding out his hand.

The others quickly followed his example, making a small circle in the middle of the tunnel. "Rock, paper, Kouji!"

Everyone suddenly turned and pointed at Kouji instead of finishing the game, from the beginning having wanted him to go speak to his brother.

"But…" Kouji began, for once feeling hesitant about talking to Kouichi. "I'm the one that caused all this."

"Yeah right," Shino said bitterly. "If I hadn't snapped at her, she wouldn't have left in the first place."

"Guys, you can play the blame game later," Kira said firmly, stepping between the two. Then she turned to Kouji and continued, "Right now, your brother needs you. Go help him."

Kouji stared at Kira for a moment, then nodded, a determined expression on his face. He then made his way slowly over to the cavern entrance, lifted the flap, and stepped inside.

Kouichi didn't even acknowledge his presence. He was so out of it, Kouji doubted he would have noticed an earthquake at this point. He slowly walked toward his brother, getting more and more nervous with each step he took. What would he say to him? There was no way he could make him feel the slightest bit better about any of this. But he had to try.

When he stood right in front of Kouichi, he crouched down, getting to Kouichi's eye level. Kouichi still didn't notice a thing. Kouji saw that Kouichi's gaze was fixed firmly on the object he clutched in his hand. Zoe's hat.

"Kouichi," he said softly, trying to get his attention. Kouichi didn't react. "Kouichi," Kouji said, this time louder. Still no reaction. Realizing he would get nowhere with this, Kouji grabbed Kouichi by the shoulders and shook him roughly. "Kouichi!"

"What?" Kouichi said this so softly that Kouji was amazed he'd even heard it. Kouichi lifted his head slowly, meeting Kouji's gaze. Kouji noticed that Kouichi's eyes looked devoid of emotion, almost lifeless.

Kouji shook off his worry, concentrating on the task ahead of him. "Kouichi, you can't just sit here like this. Brooding isn't going to get Zoe back."

Kouichi just continued to stare at Kouji with those lifeless eyes. It was beginning to frighten Kouji until Kouichi finally closed his eyes and muttered, "I can't."

"Yes you can," Kouji said, relieved that he actually seemed to be getting somewhere. "Gotsumon's already forming a search party. We'll find her and bring her back, you'll see."

"It's my fault," Kouichi continued, acting like he hadn't even heard what Kouji had just said. "She's gone…all my fault…"

"You weren't even here when it happened!" Kouji retorted. "If anything, it was my fault! I'm the one that got mad at her because…" Kouji couldn't seem to confess that he'd been jealous of Zoe, and that was why he'd lashed out at her.

"No," Kouichi said, laughing in an almost hysterical way. Kouji was beginning to worry for Kouichi's sanity at this point. When he stopped laughing, Kouichi smiled at Kouji. "Really, do you honestly think you drove her away? Yeah, that's a good one!"

"Kouichi," was all that Kouji could utter, eyes wide with fright.

"Did you ever cover her in your own darkness, taint her?" Kouichi no longer seemed to be talking to anyone in particular. "Yes, I loved her so much, I dragged her to hell with me! A dark, swirling pit of death and cruelty, and of course bloodshed. Can't have hell without a little bloodshed."

"Kouichi, what are you talking about?" Kouji exclaimed, getting so scared that his hands were now shaking. "You're not making any sense!"

"I'm making perfect sense," Kouichi retorted. "You're just not listening well enough. I caused all of this, from the very beginning. When you brought me back with you, when you purified me, when I first saw Zoe, that's where it all began. She could have been happy with you, or Takuya, or JP, or whoever. Instead, she got stuck with me, and look where she is now!"

Kouji suddenly understood what Kouichi was trying to get at. "You think that you ruined Zoe's chance at happiness by being with her."

Kouichi chuckled. "Now he gets it."

"But…you've made her so happy," Kouji said weakly, feeling a little dazed. "How could you…"

"From the very beginning, all I've done is make her worry," Kouichi said, sighing. "I've tried to be strong, so she wouldn't have to be so worried all the time. I even tried not to love her, because I knew that would only cause her pain, because she didn't love me back.

"But then, she said that she did love me, and I was so happy. I didn't have to pretend. I could hold her in my arms, and feel her hair brushing against my cheek. I could just get lost in her eyes, and love every minute of it.

"Then I realized I couldn't. The worry didn't stop. If anything, it got worse. She kept muttering about remembering, and I didn't know what she meant. I tried to be strong, but all she saw was my weakness, no matter what I did! It ate away at her, and I knew it was slowly tearing her apart, but there was nothing I could do! What would I accomplish by breaking up with her? Then we'd both be miserable.

"And now she's gone!" Kouichi concluded his rant, as Kouji noticed life returning to his eyes. Then, suddenly, Kouichi launched himself at Kouji, wrapping his arms around his brother. Kouji regained his balance just as Kouichi began to cry into his shoulder, trembling as sobs racked his body.

Kouji quickly hugged his brother back. And, in the very back of his mind, Kouji realized that he was almost glad that Zoe had been kidnapped, just to have Kouichi back.

—

"Masumon will have to wait for now. Our main priority from this point forward must be the rescue of the Warrior of Wind," Gotsumon stated, looking around a cavern full of Digimon.

The gang stood at the very back of the crowd, along with Bokomon, Neemon, Witchmon, and Dragramon. Kouichi was also with them, looking a bit better than he had before, despite his now red-rimmed eyes. He'd cried on Kouji's shoulder for nearly thirty minutes straight.

"Man, he sure knows how to get a crowd going," JP muttered, watching as the group of Digimon cheered for Gotsumon.

"He's grown up," Kouji said, smirking slightly. "He used to be a little punk, and now look at him."

"How high up in the ranks is Gotsumon, anyway?" Kira asked, directing her question at Witchmon and Dragramon.

"Pretty darn high," Dragramon replied. "He's the last guy you go to before actually going to the leader of the Resistance himself, and he's, like, a million, billion years old."

"Kind of like you?" Takuya said sarcastically.

Dragramon glared at Takuya, annoyed. "He's older, you little goggle-headed jerk."

"Yeah, but Gotsumon pretty much runs everything, and he keeps it running smoothly," Witchmon said, staring up at Gotsumon with a small smile on her face. "I admire that about him."

The others gave Witchmon questioning looks. Witchmon quickly turned away from Gotsumon, a slight blush on her face. "Quit staring at me, would you!"

"Yeah, quit staring at Witchy!" Dragramon agreed. "It's not her fault that Gotsumon seems to show absolutely no romantic interest in her!"

"Dragra!" Witchmon exclaimed, grabbing Dragramon and dragging her away.

The others stared after the two for a moment, then concentrated back on Gotsumon.

"Remember that, if you find her, you must also be prepared to face one of the most cunning Digital swordsmen, Duskmon," Gotsumon said, cautioning the group. "If there is anyone that does not feel up to this task, please feel free to back out now. We won't hold it against you." No one budged.

"If only Zoe were here to see how willing everyone is to risk their lives for her," Shino muttered.

"She does know how to make a lasting impression," JP said, smiling slightly.

The others nodded, agreeing with JP's statement. That is, everyone but Kouichi. He just continued to stare at the floor, hands stuffed in his pockets. Kouji was about to say something to him, when Gotsumon continued his speech.

"Alright, then we'll organize some search parties and set out first thing tomorrow," Gotsumon said, concluding his speech. "Each party can take one of the Legendary Warriors along with them."

"Which party should take which Warrior?" one of the Digimon near the front asked.

"I don't know, pick your favorite," Gotsumon replied, shrugging. "Though I hear that the Warrior of Steel is pretty kickass."

As one, the entire group of Digimon turned and stared at Hotaru, hungry expressions on their faces. Hotaru lowered his head, feeling embarrassed by the attention he was getting.

"Well Hotaru, good luck with that," Takuya said, reaching up to pat Hotaru on the back.

"We'll probably be in high demand too, huh Kouichi?" Kouji remarked, turning to his brother.

However, Kouichi didn't seem to be paying attention to all the Digimon staring at him. In fact, it looked like he'd blocked out everything going on in the room completely, eyes wide. Then he muttered, "Tomorrow?"

—

Zoe slowly opened her eyes, seeing around her only darkness. Her head was pounding like a drum, and she neither knew nor cared at that moment where she was. She did realize that she wasn't lying on the ground, but was being held upright by something. She tried to move her arms, but found that she couldn't. Something was holding them back.

She glanced down and saw that she was bound by thick coils of rope, and that she was tied up against a large tree. Her feet dangled just above the ground.

_Why am I tied up?_ she wondered, her memories fuzzy and disorganized.

"You're finally awake." That voice instantly snapped her head back into focus. She remembered how she'd left the tunnels…how she'd been crying…how she'd been kidnapped…Duskmon…

As if on cue, Duskmon stepped out of the trees, looking as dark and foreboding as the first time she'd ever seen him. And, stuck in the hole where his hand should have been, was Zoe's D-Tector.

Zoe began to struggle furiously against her bindings as Duskmon made his slow way across the clearing they were in, stopping just inches in front of her. He stared at her for several seconds before saying, "You shouldn't waste your energy like this. It won't help you to struggle."

"I'll struggle as much as I want to, you bastard!" Zoe cried angrily, glaring with unconcealed fury at Duskmon.

"I'm the bastard?" Duskmon asked, chuckling. "I just wanted to talk with Kouichi for a bit. He's the one that forces me to go to these extreme measures."

"Yeah right!" Zoe scoffed, not buying Duskmon's civil act. "You kidnapped me because you knew it would upset Kouichi. And I doubt talking is what you have in mind for him."

Duskmon smirked. "You must think you're so clever, don't you? You think that you have me all figured out."

"Not quite," Zoe admitted, still glaring at Duskmon. "There's one thing I haven't figured out. Did Ilsemon send you to do this, or are you on your own?"

Duskmon stared coolly at Zoe before replying, "Neither."

This actually managed to throw Zoe. "What?" she said, giving Duskmon a quizzical look. "What do you mean, neither?"

"I mean that I'm following orders, but not Ilsemon's," Duskmon said simply, examining Zoe's D-Tector curiously. "These devices are quite amazing. Able to not only store data, but restore data to its original state. And giving humans the ability to turn into Digimon…"

"What are you talking about?" Zoe asked, not referring to Duskmon's D-Tector ponderings. "If you aren't following Ilsemon's orders, then whose orders are you following?"

Duskmon continued to stare at the D-Tector, a thoughtful gleam in his eyes (just the two on his face, the others are just sitting there). "What do you think she'd do if I told her?"

Zoe assumed that Duskmon was just thinking out loud until he said a moment later, "Yes, she'd probably try. But she'd never be able to stop you. You know that."

_Is Duskmon having a conversation with himself?_ Zoe wondered, perplexed by Duskmon's odd behavior. _Oh crap…has he gone crazy?_

"Uh…are you alright?" Zoe asked Duskmon slowly. It felt a little odd, saying that of all things to this monster. She'd rather he just collapse on the spot, but since that didn't seem likely, she'd just have to keep him occupied until…someone found her. Hopefully someone with backup. Backup that wasn't Kouichi.

Duskmon stared at Zoe for a moment, looking just as confused by Zoe's question as she was at having asked it. "You don't honestly care, do you?" Duskmon said, scoffing. "You're just afraid because you think I'm crazy. It looked like I was talking to myself, didn't it?"

Zoe didn't answer, so Duskmon continued, "Of course, your first thought would go to your own survival in this case, but what if Kouichi were here? You'd do everything you could to provoke me so that I would leave your beloved alone, wouldn't you? That's your nature."

"You don't know me," Zoe growled, glaring with malice at her captor.

"Don't I?" Duskmon retorted, turning away from Zoe and stalking slowly around the clearing. "Zoe Orimoto: Warrior of Wind. Pretty by human standards, especially with that hair. From what I hear, you can get it in a bottle in your world."

"I'm not a bottle blonde," Zoe stated firmly. "My hair's naturally this way."

"And you wish it wasn't." This comment of Duskmon's managed to catch Zoe a little off guard. Seeing this, Duskmon dug deeper. "I can read you like a book, little girl. From the moment you were born, you've hated that hair. It made you stick out; it made you different from other girls where you lived. But that was the last thing you wanted. Deep down, all you wanted was to fit in and be accepted. You tried to be like everyone else for awhile, but found that to be too tiring and decided to just 'be yourself.' You thought that if everyone liked the fake you, everyone would like the real you.

"But then you found that wasn't the case. No one liked the real you. You were just too different. So you were picked on and ridiculed by your peers. You tried to ignore it, but it weighed on your mind. In your own words: 'Girls always pick on me because I'm different. But that's made me distrustful of people who actually want to befriend me. I find something wrong with them and get mad, and they leave. I hate that I'm like that.'"

Zoe literally gasped when Duskmon said this. That really HAD been in her own words. That was exactly what she'd said to Kouichi back on their first adventures in the Digital World, when she'd tried to cheer him up right after they'd all first met him. "How…?"

"How did I know about something you said after I was already dead?" Duskmon finished Zoe's question for her. "I watched your conversation with Kouichi as it took place."

"What do you mean?" Zoe asked softly, still feeling shell-shocked.

"I'm not quite sure what happened myself," Duskmon replied, beginning to get a far-off look in his eye. "I was killed. I know I was. I felt the pain, the agony as my being was ripped from Kouichi's. I lost consciousness quickly as I felt myself being pulled toward one of these D-Tector devices. I expected to awaken in some sort of mechanized limbo, if I was to wake up at all. Instead, I was in some sort of dark, abysmal area of the Digital World, which I believe you refer to as the Dark Area."

"The Dark Area?" Zoe said, confused. "But your Spirits were in Kouji's D-Tector."

"The Warrior of Darkness's Spirits were in that D-Tector," Duskmon said, sounding almost bitter. "I am not the Warrior of Darkness. I am a fraud, a fake, a demented copy. I was never meant to exist. I simply embody every evil quality inside Lowemon…and Kouichi. I was supposed to fade away when Lowemon's Spirits were purified.

"But for some reason, I wasn't. Someone had saved me at the last possible second and brought me to the Dark Area. I should have felt relief, but I didn't. I had no purpose in this world, or any other world. I wasn't even real. I should have just faded away and been forgotten. That's what you all wanted, and I was ready to oblige."

Duskmon said this, but from the bitter tone his voice had taken on, Zoe could tell that Duskmon resented being just a figment. He wished he could be as real as the being that had unintentionally created him. Someone had apparently granted that wish.

"Then I saw you," Duskmon continued. "Images flashed before me of you and the rest of your group, along with Kouichi. You were headed toward the Rose Morning Star in order to defeat Cherubimon and rescue Ophanimon. I couldn't pick out any of the conversations going on at first, but yours and Kouichi's suddenly blasted through all the white noise and clamor the others had created. Quite frankly, it was mostly uninteresting."

Zoe frowned, looking slightly insulted. "Gee, thanks," she said sarcastically.

"You're welcome," Duskmon replied, smirking. (I didn't know you had a sense of humor, Dusky!) "Shut up, Madjack." (Okay, okay…) "Anyway, I suddenly heard a different voice giggling behind me, right after I watched you leave the train car. I turned and saw her: a slender, human girl, about your height and looking about your age. But she looked so much wiser than any of you, as if she were a higher being. Her hair was black, and her skin was white. But I wasn't concentrating on any of that.

"What I saw was her big, piercing violet eyes. The more I stared at them, the more I found that I couldn't look away. They seemed to peer straight through my being. I took a step toward the girl, and she smiled. Then she said, 'Would you like to have purpose, Duskmon?' I nodded without even thinking. Her smile widened as she said, 'Then take my hand.' Once again, without thinking, I reached out my arm and let her hand touch me.

"I don't remember much of what happened next. The pain was so intense, I thought that I had somehow managed to die twice." (Like Buffy!) "For the love of god, Madjack!" (Sorry, please continue!) "Urgh…anyway, when the pain dimmed, I opened my eyes and found myself lying here, in the Dark Continent. I took a breath, then another. That simple act told me everything; I was alive, and not just as a shadow of someone else's being. I was truly alive. For the first time…I was real. Then I heard the girl's voice again, only it was just in my mind. She said, 'I have a job for you, Duskmon.' Now, about two years later, here we are. I'm about to finish my job."

Zoe knew she shouldn't. Duskmon was twisted, demonic, a menace. He had personified the meaning of a true villain to her for so long that childhood monsters like the Boogie Man were dull in comparison. And yet…she pitied him. He'd been used ever since he'd come into being, and it seemed as if he was still being used. It didn't seem to her that he truly was evil. He'd been made for evil purposes, but, Zoe realized, that didn't necessarily make him evil. He did the things he did because they gave him a purpose to his entire existence.

But all he'd ever wanted was to be real.

—

Kouichi lifted up the cloth, quietly stepping out of the cavern entrance. He glanced back at his sleeping friends, resting up for the search for Zoe…

_…that happens tomorrow,_ Kouichi thought, determination welling up inside of him. _We can't afford to wait until tomorrow. There's no telling what Duskmon could do to her by then. And if I just sit here and wait, and something DOES happen…I won't be able to forgive myself. I have to go now._

Gripping his D-Tector tightly in his hand, Kouichi made his way down the tunnels, trying to remember the way to the tunnel exit. Finally, he came to a ladder that led up into darkness.

He was about to step onto the first rung of the ladder when he heard, "Where are you going, Kouichi?"

Kouichi sighed. "I didn't notice you following me, Kouji."

"You've tended not to notice me a lot lately," Kouji muttered.

"What?" Kouichi turned, confused by Kouji's last statement.

"Forget it," Kouji said quickly, walking up to Kouichi until he was right in front of him, giving him a hard stare. "Now answer my question: where are you going?"

Kouichi looked down, feeling a little uncomfortable under Kouji's gaze. "I think you already know the answer to that."

There was complete silence for a moment. Then Kouji said, "Take me with you."

"What?" Once again, Kouichi was confused by Kouji's statement.

"You can't wait until tomorrow," Kouji said, ignoring Kouichi's question. "You think that something bad will happen to Zoe if you wait. So you're going out now to try to rescue her yourself. Fine. Take me with you."

"Kouji," Kouichi began, sounding like he was about to lecture a younger brother…oh wait, he is! Ha! "I can't risk you getting hurt."

"But you can risk yourself getting hurt?" Kouji retorted. "Kouichi, face it. Together, we're a much more powerful force than we are alone. We might even be able to end it with Duskmon, once and for all. Please, just take me with you."

Kouichi stared at Kouji, meeting his gaze. Then, Kouichi sighed…and punched Kouji square in the face.

Kouji barely reacted, it had happened so suddenly. He finally realized what was happening just as his head smacked against the hard floor. _You'd think a dirt floor wouldn't be this hard,_ Kouji thought, slipping quickly from consciousness.

Kouichi watched his brother fall, trying desperately not to yell for help. That would only get everyone on his trail sooner, which was the last thing he needed. But he couldn't just leave Kouji like this.

He knew that it wouldn't help his chances of not being found out quickly, but he slipped off his jacket and laid it under Kouji's head, which he noticed had started to bleed.

_I hate blood,_ he thought, shakily stepping onto the first rung of the ladder without looking back._ Blood is always a sign of something bad._

—

"He's here," Duskmon suddenly said, turning around. "That didn't take long at all, did it?"

Zoe flinched, knowing what Duskmon must mean. He had just finished telling her the tale of his rebirth (nudge nudge) and for a moment she had pitied him. Now that pity was quickly replaced by terror when she saw who stood on the other side of the clearing, completely alone and, she noticed, without his jacket.

"Kouichi," she muttered quietly, eyes wide in fright. "No."

Kouichi glanced at Zoe quickly, ascertaining that she was, for the most part, unharmed. Then he turned his gaze on Duskmon, glaring at him. No, it was worse than a glare. He completely despised Duskmon, hating him more than, as far as Zoe knew, he'd ever hated anyone in his life. Maybe Duskmon was the only one he'd ever hated.

Kouichi raised his D-Tector, hand glowing with data. "Let's end this, Duskmon. Now!"

—

_madjack89:_ Uh oh, this can't be good!

_Kira:_ Damn straight! Chief, why are you so stupid sometimes?

_Kouichi:_ But…I just didn't want anyone else getting hurt…

_Zoe:_ Stop picking on him, Kira!

_Kira:_ Fine, whatever. But if he gets his ass killed, then I'll have to say I told you so.

_madjack89:_ If Kouichi died, you'd be all depressed and upset, not going around saying I told you so.

_Kira:_ …Don't ruin my moment.

_madjack89:_ Sorry.

_JP:_ Wow with that Duskmon part. I even feel a little sorry for him!

_Dai:_ Poor Dusky!

_Takuya:_ He's still an eyeball bastard, if you ask me.

_madjack89:_ Is it just me, or do you guys have dirtier mouths than usual today?

_Kouji:_ What the hell is she talking about?

_Takuya:_ I don't freaking know.

_Kouichi:_ My hand hurts like hell from hitting Kouji like that.

_Kira:_ Wait, no one mentioned that I'm the Bop It queen! Did you all forget already? Damn you all!

_madjack89:_ Geez, I'm gonna have to start censoring you guys.

_JP:_ What the *BEEP* do you mean? …What the *BEEP*?!

_madjack89:_ That's better! Alright, I bet you can guess what's gonna be in the next chapter. Til then, see ya!


	21. Ch 21: Atonement

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 21: Atonement**

_Takuya:_ Okay, you wake her up.

_JP:_ I'm not waking her up! Make Kouji wake her up!

_Kouji:_ I'm not waking her up!

_Kira:_ C'mon guys, someone's gotta wake her up before the chapter starts.

_Kouji and JP:_ Then you do it!

_Kira:_ Hell no! I don't wanna die!

_Kouichi:_ Guys, the chapter started 30 seconds ago.

_Everyone: notices the title_

_Takuya:_ Uh…hey there, guys! How's it going?

_JP:_ We're having a little dilemma right now. Shino will explain while we try to get it sorted out.

_Shino:_ Well, you see, Madjack stormed in here earlier looking all frazzled and angry, and when we sent Dai over to see what was wrong, she threatened to rip his skull out of his head and beat him to death with it—

_Dai:_ That doesn't even seem physically possible!

_Shino:_ That's what I said. Anyway, after she made Dai cry, she went to go scream into a pillow, and when we went to check on her a few minutes ago, we found her fast asleep, and we're all afraid to wake her up.

_Zoe:_ We don't even know what the heck was wrong.

_Kouichi:_ It must be pretty bad. She never yells at Dai.

_Shino:_ Poor kid. I think he's been even more traumatized for life.

_Dai:_ I'm thirteen! Why do you guys keep calling me a kid?

_Zoe:_ Dai, you both look and act like a kid, so to us, you're like the baby of the group.

_Dai:_ What about Tommy? He's younger than me.

_Zoe:_ Tommy's been promoted to runner-up baby of the group.

_Tommy:_ Yes!

_Dai:_ …I think I need a cookie.

_Hotaru:_ Sugar free, please.

_Zoe:_ Poor Dai.

_Hotaru:_ I think I'm gonna have a few words with Madjack when she wakes up.

_Takuya:_ Oh god, she's waking up!

_JP:_ Head for the hills!

_Everyone: runs away_

_madjack89:_ Hm…oh, hi guys. Guess the chapter started while I was asleep. Man, I was so mad earlier. I had the worst first week of school ever. I think I even yelled at Dai. I should go apologize…wait, where is everybody? Guys, you here?!

_Everyone: no response_

_madjack89:_ Huh…oh well, I'll just answer reviews then.

-

_Dawn of Glory:_ Don't worry, the censoring thing won't last, I was just messing with JP! And those head injuries are finally catching up with Kouichi. Thanks for the review!

_DigiBleach:_ I'm glad you liked Duskmon's story, cause I enjoyed writing it! And don't worry, you'll get his hat! Thanks for reviewing!

_GoldenDragon326:_ Yeah, it's weird. In fact, Kouji's the first person Kouichi's punched in the series…ironic. Thanks for reviewing!

_Umeplumblossom:_ I'm glad you like my writing, but get some sleep! (lol) I'll try to write some good angst for you! Thanks for reviewing!

_hazeleyedharmony:_ Yeah, Taru can be funny without even trying to be!  
As you can see, school is not being kind to me…  
-Like he didn't already?  
-I loved writing it, so I'm glad someone liked it!  
-What else is new? (_Kouji:_ Oh, shut up, Madjack!)  
-Yup! Kind of like Gatomon and Patamon in seasons 1 and 2…only with more rocks!  
-Sorry, but I've always kind of liked Duskmon! He was my favorite villain in all of season 4! (I don't censor reviews, but fanfiction might. I don't know.)  
-(_Kouji:_ …So do you just hate me, or what?) Aw, I'm sure she just found it amusing that Kouichi of all people punched you in the face! (_Kouji:_ _sigh_ Women…)  
-Well, it is coming from JP, after all! If anyone needs censoring, it's him!  
-Hm, the twins could use a puppy…and anti-depressants…and I could use a shield to protect myself from Kouji when he finds out what happens in the next chapter arc. (_Kouji:_ Wait, what?) Thanks for reviewing, hazel!

_TobiGB:_ Gee, how nice of you, Itachi! Now sit back, you two, and get ready to read the most epic fight ever! (lol Probably not THAT epic, but still.) Thanks for the cookies and the review!

_Digimon122:_ Eh, I have a thing for emo depression. Not that I'm depressed myself, but depression fascinates me. (I have a sadistic mind…) The girl is not Ilsemon, and you shall find out who she is in chapter 22. Thanks for reviewing!

_apapa155:_ Sorry about those hiccups, Eva! I hate hiccups. Anyway, you and Kokanakluemon may not appear for a little while yet, but rest assured, you will appear! Thanks for reviewing!

_shadica:_ Then I'm weird right along with you, because I never thought of Duskmon as completely evil either! Go Bop It! And it's not irrational to be wary of people on the Internet. For all you know, I could be a psycho-maniac stalker! (By the way, I'm not.) But thanks for reviewing!

_Aldamonburst:_ Aw, poor Night! Thanks for the review, Burst!

_beybladeingninjaprincess:_ Yeah, that was a small snag in Kouichi's plan, but then again, Squishy would probably go past knocking Kouji out. Ha, I should have Kouichi and Squishy have a staring contest sometime! Aw, the twins do look kind of cute knocked out…Taki does too…and even JP a little bit…dang it, they're all cute! (_Dragramon:_ And that's a bad thing?) Go away, Dragra. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_Kirae-Remi:_ Yeah he is, but he's awesome at the same time! Thanks!

_fg1fg:_ Zoe didn't want anyone to walk in on her and thought outside would be the best place for that. Of course Kouichi would save Zoe! He's like her (k)night in shining armor, man! (lol) Yeah, Dusky does kind of dislike Kouichi, so he may have that idea. And, sadly, you will not find out who the god-like girl is until the next chapter. Just be patient a little longer! Thanks for reviewing!

_garnettfox:_ Yeah, probably! Oh yeah, it does say edit, doesn't it? (face palms along with you) Don't kill Taki before I get a chance to in F2R! (_Takuya:_ So you ARE killing me off!) No…of course not…oh look, the end of the review! Thanks for reviewing! (BTW, congrats on being reviewer 200!)

_ladyaura:_ Aw, I'm so flattered when people say I'm a good writer! Who the girl is will be revealed in chapter 22, no worries! Wow, I used to be a huge Kouji fan, too! Not that I don't like him anymore, it's just I like the others a lot, too, so it's not just him! And I don't fangirl over him anymore! Hm, that seems like a pretty cool title. I'll definitely read your story when it comes out! Til then, thanks for reviewing this story! (_looks at end of chapter_) I might want to hide these weapons for my own safety.

-

_madjack89:_ Guys, I'm fine now! And if you can hear me Dai, I'm sorry! Because I yelled at you, you're allotted two sugary donuts today, okay?

_Dai: pops out of nowhere and hugs me_ Apology accepted! I'm just glad you aren't mad at me!

_madjack89:_ Aw, Dai! _hugs Dai back_

_Zoe:_ Isn't that sweet?

_Kouji:_ Yeah, it's just peachy. Alright, our crisis is over, let's just start the darn chapter.

_madjack89:_ Okie-doke! Enjoy chapter 21!

—

Kouji opened his eyes very slowly. It felt like there was a huge weight sitting on his eyelids, making this a difficult task. Finally, though, Kouji managed to get his eyes to obey and open, revealing a face above him. His vision was blurred, so it was hard to make out exactly who the person was.

"Who…?" Kouji managed to mutter weakly.

"Oh no, he's got amnesia!" Takuya. "Alright, let's start from the beginning. First off, I'm Takuya, and this girl next to me is Kira."

"Hey there, pretty boy," Kira said, waving casually at Kouji.

"Okay, Witchmon or Dragramon or someone get in here! This Digimon thing will be easier to explain with visual aid!" Takuya yelled, turning around.

"Takuya, I don't have amnesia," Kouji said flatly, rolling his eyes.

Takuya turned back around, sighing with relief. "Well, that takes care of that."

Kouji tried to sit up, but went too fast and began to teeter, head spinning. "Easy, Kouji," Shino cautioned, grabbing Kouji's arm before he fell over.

"Listen to the doctor, pretty boy," Kira added, smirking at Shino.

"For the last time, my mother has the Ph.D., not me," Shino said firmly.

"Hey, you probably know more than us," Kira said, shrugging nonchalantly. "Your mom might have taught you first-aid or something."

"Have you ever met my mother?" Shino asked flatly.

"Guys, not that this conversation isn't fascinating, but what's going on?" Kouji said, looking around the cavern he sat in. It was the same cavern that the gang had been given as a bedroom, and was mostly empty, save Takuya, Kira, Shino, and himself. He could see the faint outlines of Witchmon and Dragramon standing outside the opening cloth, probably making sure no one bothered them.

"We were kind of hoping you could tell us that," Takuya said, referring to Kouji's question. "We just found you near the tunnel exit, passed out and bleeding from a head wound."

"And by the way, do you happen to know where the hell Chief is?" Kira asked, holding up Kouichi's blood-stained jacket. "We found this along with you, and we noticed that he was missing."

"Does it have something to do with Duskmon?" Shino added quietly, voicing what the others were tentative to say.

Kouji thought about this for a minute, trying to remember what had happened right before he'd been knocked out. The others leaned forward, anxious to hear what he had to say. Suddenly, Kouji exclaimed, "Kouichi!" eyes wide with panic.

"What about Kouichi?" Takuya asked, quickly losing his patience.

Kouji's memories were all flooding back at once, but one thought stood out in his jumbled mind. "It has everything to do with Duskmon, Shino. Kouichi…he went off to find Duskmon alone. He'll fight him…and he might not win."

—

JagerLowemon leaped through the air, headed straight for Duskmon. Duskmon reacted quickly, hopping to the side as JagerLowemon sailed past him. JagerLowemon (my god, these Beast Spirits have freaking long names!) twisted his body in midair, digging his claws into the ground in order to stay on his feet when he hit earth.

Zoe flinched, JagerLowemon having landed right next to her. She glanced at him just as he glanced at her, concern in his gaze. Then, without a word, he swiped his claw against the tree Zoe was bound against, slicing through her rope and freeing her. Zoe landed on her feet and looked at Duskmon, who still held her D-Tector. JagerLowemon noticed this too and simply said, "Run," before charging at Duskmon again.

"Kouichi!" Zoe cried, ignoring his command entirely. She wouldn't run from this fight unless Kouichi was with her. At the moment, that didn't seem to be a very likely possibility.

Duskmon dodged JagerLowemon once again with ease, but this time JagerLowemon hadn't planned to simply bowl into Duskmon. "Ebony Blast!" JagerLowemon released a large burst of dark energy at Duskmon, turning his head toward his adversary in midair.

Duskmon quickly unsheathed his swords, holding them up in front of him as a shield against the attack. Zoe tensed. She remembered how easy it had always been for Duskmon to simply swat away their attacks as if they were nothing.

That's why it was a bit of a shock when the attack made contact and Duskmon was pushed back a few inches, actually seeming to struggle in deflecting this attack. After several seconds, though, Duskmon managed to swipe at the attack with his sword, causing it to dissipate.

Zoe glanced at JagerLowemon, wondering how his attack had actually managed to hinder Duskmon. She didn't like what she saw. JagerLowemon was crouched a few feet away from Duskmon, glaring maliciously at him. Zoe noticed he had a distinctive dark aura swirling around him. Also, to add to Zoe's concern, he looked completely furious and almost…feral.

_This is not good_, Zoe thought, shaking in fear despite herself. _Kouichi's not thinking. At this rate, he could easily get hurt by Duskmon…or end up hurting himself._

Zoe could tell that Duskmon knew that fact as well as she did, and from the triumphant gleam in his eye, she felt certain that he would use it to his own advantage. Or to the advantage of the person he took orders from.

Duskmon crossed his two swords in front of him, charging at JagerLowemon. Zoe watched with wide, worried eyes as JagerLowemon dodged out of Duskmon's way. Duskmon quickly turned on his heel and charged at JagerLowemon again. JagerLowemon continued to dodge as Duskmon continued his attack, now swinging his swords deftly at JagerLowemon.

"Duskmon's not giving him a chance to attack back," Zoe muttered to herself, biting her lip in frustration. "I should be helping!"

"Zoe!" Zoe's attention returned to the fight when JagerLowemon yelled her name. She noticed that Duskmon had changed course, and instead of rushing at JagerLowemon, he was heading straight for her.

She knew that she should have been running away, but her legs didn't seem to want to move. She was actually frozen with fear. Zoe was so afraid of Duskmon that seeing him charging toward her paralyzed her. And it wasn't because of the monstrous, horrible things he'd done in the past. It was because she'd seen his human side. He actually had feelings, but was still a bloodthirsty killer. It was this that scared Zoe.

JagerLowemon dashed after Duskmon, seeing Zoe's fear filled expression. His eyes blazed as, moments before Duskmon made contact with Zoe, he slammed into Duskmon's side, knocking them both to the ground.

Zoe blinked, brought out of her terrified stupor. Duskmon lay several feet to her left, with JagerLowemon on top of him.

"No!" Zoe cried, realizing the problem this could cause Kouichi. "If you stand on top of him like that, he can slash at your stomach!"

JagerLowemon quickly leaped off of Duskmon, realizing Zoe's point. Then JagerLowemon became engulfed in data and, moments later, Lowemon stood above Duskmon, lance in hand. "This evens the odds a bit, don't you think?"

Duskmon sprung to his feet, swords raised threateningly. "Indeed it does."

Lowemon and Duskmon began to circle each other, weapons held up defensively. "That was a dirty trick you just pulled, going after Zoe like that," Lowemon said quietly, so that Zoe wouldn't hear.

Duskmon's eyes remained narrowed. "You'd do the same if there were someone I cared about here."

"You really think I'm as twisted as you?" Lowemon asked, scoffing.

"Need I remind you that you were me for a time," Duskmon retorted. "I have seen the deepest, darkest corners of your mind. I know you, even more than you know yourself. You don't think you're capable of sinking to my level, but you are. You just haven't been given the opportunity to prove that."

"Shut up!" Lowemon brandished his lance, swinging it at Duskmon's head angrily.

Duskmon easily stopped the attack with one of his blades, holding the other one at Lowemon's throat. "Never make the first move." (Right, Loor?) (_Loor:_ That is correct.) With that, Duskmon pushed Lowemon's lance away with his sword.

Then Duskmon lashed out with his blade, which Lowemon deflected with his lance. Duskmon quickly swung his other blade at Lowemon, who once again deflected the attack.

Zoe watched as Duskmon attacked Lowemon with a volley of slashes, Lowemon defending himself successfully against all of them. But Zoe didn't think he could keep this up forever. Duskmon had gotten Lowemon on the defensive, and there was nothing Zoe could do to help even the odds.

_It's just like when Grumblemon stole my Spirit_, Zoe thought, feeling disheartened. _I was completely helpless then, and I'm completely helpless now. And I might lose Kouichi…_

Suddenly, something occurred to Zoe. Duskmon was beginning to drive Lowemon back with his furious attacks, and Lowemon was starting to look a bit weakened. But there was something missing, something that Duskmon had possessed before, something he'd been holding that wasn't there now…

"He dropped my D-Tector!" Zoe realized this just as Duskmon drove Lowemon straight into a tree, still dealing slash after slash with his sword. Lowemon was still deflecting his attacks, but finally, one hit its target.

"Argh!" Lowemon cried, having been sliced on his chest. He quickly brought his attention back to Duskmon as Duskmon continued his assault.

Zoe quickly scanned the clearing, searching for her D-Tector. She didn't see it anywhere in plain view, so she headed for the bushes on the outskirts of the clearing, deciding to search through them until she found her precious device.

_Hold on, Kouichi_, she thought to herself, trying to put his injured cry out of her mind. _The cavalry's coming!_

—

"Hang on, Chief. The cavalry's coming!" Kira exclaimed, dodging around another tree as she dashed after Kouji, along with the rest of the gang.

"Kouji, are you sure you know where Kouichi is?" Shino asked, catching up quickly to Kouji (little known fact: Shino's a pretty fast runner).

"Yes," Kouji said simply, charging on through the woods.

Takuya smiled mischievously on Kouji's other side. "Freaky—"

"Shut up," Kouji said, interrupting Takuya.

"Well, it is!" Takuya retorted. "I mean, you just magically know where Kouichi is, when no one else has a clue, then you drag us out here with you to go get him, and you know exactly where you're going, where as the rest of us have no freaking clue where we are! Coincidence? I think not!"

"Okay, Takuya, here's the deal," Kouji said, eye twitching slightly in annoyance from Takuya's rant. "I really don't think me and Kouichi being twins has anything to do with this. It's probably some weird light/darkness thing that's giving us a special connection to each other, okay?"

Takuya stared thoughtfully at Kouji for a moment, pondering what he'd said. Then Takuya muttered, "Freaky telekinetic twin powers FTW."

Kouji glared at Takuya. "I hate you, Takuya."

—

Zoe continued to creep through the outskirts of the clearing, still searching for her D-Tector.

"C'mon, where are you?" she muttered to herself, her search getting more and more frantic by the second. She bit her lip in frustration, trying not to look to her left at the fight that was still taking place in the clearing.

When she'd last looked up, Lowemon had actually managed to unpin himself from the tree he'd been driven against, though not without suffering a view more injuries. Now Lowemon and Duskmon were attacking back and forth across the clearing, matching blow for blow.

She heard a painful grunt, and knew instantly that it was Lowemon. Duskmon didn't show his pain easily. She bit harder on her lip and it started to bleed. Zoe licked at the blood with her tongue. _Kouichi hates blood…_

Zoe paused in her search, remembering the time, so many months ago, when she had helped Kouichi bandage a cut on Takuya's forehead that had bled a bit profusely. Kouichi had barely been able to stomach looking at the wound, let alone patching it up. Zoe thought it was kind of cute, that little quirk of his.

Her small smile turned back into a frown when she remembered what was happening right next to her. Kouichi had challenged Duskmon to a final, one-on-one showdown, where only one would come out alive.

She quickly continued her frenzied search, fueled by her desire to protect Kouichi. However, one thought still nagged at the back of her mind.

"Why couldn't we just run when we had the chance?" she asked herself. "We could easily have run. Sure, Duskmon had my D-Tector, but I've been without it before. I'd get it back eventually. You know that. You had already saved me. That would be enough for you. So why would you bother fighting Duskmon? It's not worth it."

Zoe just couldn't understand Kouichi's obsession with Duskmon, namely with beating him. It didn't make sense to her, especially how he felt the need to beat Duskmon on his own. Together, with the others, they might have been able to defeat Duskmon, for good this time. But for some reason, Kouichi didn't want that. And she had a hard time believing that it was because he didn't want anyone else to get hurt. That was part of it, but not all of it.

Meanwhile, in the clearing, Lowemon and Duskmon broke apart, breathing hard. Lowemon glared at Duskmon, and Duskmon glared back.

"You know I'm going to kill you, here and now," Lowemon growled softly. "This has gone on long enough. You need to die."

"You're probably right. That would be the righteous thing to do," Duskmon muttered, an odd glint in his eye. "But you're not really thinking about what's righteous, are you? You simply want me dead for your own reasons."

"What do you mean?" Lowemon asked, confusion entering his voice.

"Don't act as if you don't know," Duskmon said. "Every day you feel an overwhelming guilt for what you did when you and I shared the same consciousness. You killed lots of Digimon, collected some data here and there, proved your worth to Cherubimon, and then sulked in silence. And you almost killed your brother."

"Stop," Lowemon said softly, Duskmon's words hurting more than Duskmon's blade.

"You almost killed the others as well," Duskmon continued, ignoring Lowemon. "These facts haunt you, though you try not to dwell on the past. You don't want to be tortured by guilt, and you always try to tell yourself that it wasn't your fault. But it never works. The guilt stays, like a cloud looming over your head, waiting to strike you down with lightning because of your misdeeds. And you think you deserve it."

Lowemon wanted to argue, but everything that Duskmon said struck true. Every day, he felt that guilt welling up inside him, threatening to suffocate him. Being with his friends, Kouji, Zoe, that all helped, but it didn't make the guilt go away.

"And that is why you want to kill me," Duskmon said. "Because I am the proof that you did all those horrible things, you believe that if I were to disappear, by your own hand, that the guilt would finally be put to rest. You would finally be able to forgive yourself. It would be your atonement."

"Atonement…" Lowemon realized that Duskmon was right. He did seek forgiveness for his misdeeds, trying constantly to do good. But it was never enough, because he could never manage to forgive himself, at least not completely. But if he could kill Duskmon…

"It's a shame that you'll never find out if killing me really will bring you happiness," Duskmon said suddenly, backing up a few steps from Lowemon. "I don't like resorting to this, but I suppose it's necessary."

Then Duskmon was engulfed by data and a few moments later, Velgemon rose into the air, circling around the clearing.

Lowemon was only able to stare up at Velgemon as he dove toward the clearing after several circles, headed straight for him. "It's times like these that really make me wish I could fly," Lowemon muttered.

Zoe wished she could fly, too, as Velgemon descended on Lowemon, grabbed him in his talons, and lifted him up in the air. "Kouichi!" she cried, forgetting her search for the moment.

Lowemon paused in his struggling, hearing Zoe's cry below him. "Zoe," he muttered to himself. "I'm sorry. I tried, but…I'm just not strong enough."

Velgemon continued to lift Lowemon until they were high above the clearing. Then, Velgemon rocketed toward the ground, feet first. Zoe realized with horror that Velgemon was going to slam Lowemon into the clearing below. But there was nothing she could do to stop it.

Seconds later, Velgemon hit the earth or, more accurately, Lowemon did. Zoe shielded eyes from the cloud of dust that floated up from the impact. When the dust cleared, Zoe slowly opened her eyes, afraid of what she might see.

In the middle of the clearing, a small crater had formed, courtesy of Velgemon. Kouichi lay in that crater, data showing. At first, Zoe thought he was out cold, until she noticed his arm move slightly. Then his other arm moved as he tried to pick himself up and get back on his feet.

Zoe was about to rush to his aid when she noticed Duskmon standing before Kouichi, sword drawn and glowing with a strange, dark energy.

Zoe looked through some more bushes, tearing through them in a desperate attempt to find her D-Tector.

Duskmon glanced at Zoe, then turned his attention back to Kouichi, who was still struggling to his feet. "Still fighting for atonement, are you?"

"I…" Kouichi attempted to speak, though could only get out a strained whisper. "I don't…want to…make…her cry…"

Duskmon smirked, watching Kouichi finally get to his feet. "Ah, young love," Duskmon muttered. "It never seems to last."

With this statement, Duskmon thrust his sword forward, piercing Kouichi straight through the chest until the other point of the sword stabbed through his back.

Zoe watched, frozen, as Kouichi's eyes widened in shock but strangely, not pain. It was as if he were merely surprised at being stabbed, or that he hadn't quite realized what had happened. Then he slowly looked down, seeing the sword stuck in his chest.

Zoe remained paralyzed as Kouichi's gaze drifted to her. Seeing her, he finally looked as if he were in pain. Zoe watched intently as he tried to form words unsuccessfully.

Duskmon, whose expression remained stony, pulled the sword from Kouichi's body as easily as he'd pierced it through. Without anything to hold him up, Kouichi fell to his knees, eyes growing cloudy and unfocused. Then he fell over completely, landing back in the dirt.

Zoe stared wide-eyed at Kouichi's unmoving form, trying to tell herself that this couldn't be true. But it was. What she'd feared for so long had just happened, right before her eyes.

Duskmon had killed Kouichi.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

—

Kouji stopped so suddenly that the others continued running several feet before they realized they didn't know where they were going.

"Hey, what's the hold up, pretty boy?" Kira asked impatiently.

Kouji didn't answer, eyes growing wide. "Hey Kouji, are you okay?" JP asked, noticing Kouji's pained expression.

Suddenly, Kouji fell to his knees, hugging his chest in what looked like agony. The others quickly crowded around him, trying to figure out what was wrong.

"Kouji, tell Doctor Shino what's going on," Takuya said seriously, gesturing at Shino. Shino just nodded, for once not getting annoyed at being called "Doctor Shino."

"Wait," Dai said, getting a sudden idea. "Are you having a heart attack? Darn you, Team Dattebayo's Light Yagami!" (A joke for the youtubers out there.)

"No," Kouji said through heaving breaths. "Kouichi…he's…"

Takuya suddenly tensed, eyes growing wide. "Kouji, is Kouichi…dead?"

Kouji squeezed his eyes shut, trying to fight back the pain this statement brought. "I don't know. That's the problem. I don't know where he is anymore. He's just…gone."

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Everyone looked up, hearing an anguished scream coming from their right.

"Zee," Kira said simply.

—

_madjack89:_ And that is the end of chapter 21!

_Everyone: stunned silence_

_Kouji:_ You…you just…

_madjack89:_ Heh…heh heh…heh…heh heh heh…hey Dai, I just got the second live action Death Note movie on DVD! Want to watch it with me?

_Dai:_ Uh…okay.

_madjack89:_ Awesome! Alright, guys, see you in chapter 22! Please don't try to kill me in your reviews or anything, because, for your information, Kouichi's gonna be in the next chapter, so ha!

_JP:_ Yeah, as a dead body!

_madjack89:_ Shut it, JP!


	22. Ch 22: Nina

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 22: Nina**

_madjack89:_ Hello, everyone! Due to the events of the last chapter—

_Takuya:_ You mean your brutal murder of Kouichi?!

_madjack89:_ —I have hired a bodyguard to protect me from the gang! Say hi to Sasuke from Naruto!

_Sasuke:_ If you're wondering why I'm doing this, she paid me…a lot.

_madjack89:_ For what you cost, you better Chidori the crap out of anyone that comes near me, emo boy!

_Sasuke: eye twitches_ I hate my life.

_madjack89:_ Yeah, what else is new?

_Sasuke: sigh_

_madjack89:_ Anywho, Dai and I had a fantastical time watching the second Death Note movie, if anyone cares.

_Dai:_ It was awesome!

_Takuya:_ Traitor!

_madjack89:_ Back off of Dai or Sasuke's gonna go all Sharingan on you, Taki!

_Sasuke: glares at Takuya threateningly_

_Takuya: _Fine, but I still don't understand how Dai can be so happy at a time like this.

_Dai:_ I'm happy because while we were watching Death Note, Madjack showed me her notes for this chapter!

_Everyone:_ WHAT?!

_Kira:_ What'd they say?

_Dai:_ I've been sworn to secrecy. You'll just have to read on to find out!

_madjack89:_ But first, I shall answer your reviews that were previously checked by Sasuke to make sure there were no paper bombs or anything stuck to them!

_Sasuke:_ Thanks for the cookies.

_madjack89: _Those cookies are coming out of your paycheck.

_Sasuke:_ Eh, it's worth it. _munches on cookie_

-

_hazeleyedharmony:_ Shocking, isn't it? But necessary, as you'll soon see! I'm extremely flattered that you liked last chapter so much! My writing must really be improving from a year ago! I'm trying to update as soon as I can, but school hates me (it's ruining my senior year!). Anyway, I really LOVE that quote! That is just the most amazing quote EVER, especially when it comes to this gang! Alright, thanks for reviewing! (And sorry for "killing" Kouichi.)

_apapa155:_ Sorry Eva! I'll warn you to shield your eyes next time! (_Everyone:_ Next time?!) Heh heh…anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_beybladeingninjaprincess:_ Sasuke, protect me! (_Sasuke: busy munching on cookies_) Why did Kakashi have to be on vacation…yeah Kouji, do something! (_Kouji:_ Like what?!) I don't know, whatever you did last time! (_Kouji:_ Is that what's gonna happen?) No. (_Kouji:_ Then why tell me to do it?!) I don't know! (_Kouji:_ Grrrrrrr!) Perhaps Kouji and Squishy can have a staring contest…we'll see. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_Aldamonburst:_ How dare you take Haio's Poptart, Night! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day! And Kaito, you are very awesome! Thanks for reviewing!

_ladyaura12:_ I don't like zombies either, so no worries on that front! No problem, and I'm sure I'll love your fanfic! You seem very creative! Sasuke, dispose of the poison! (_Sasuke:_ Hey Itachi, want a drink?) Not like that! (_Sasuke: _Fine.) Thanks for the review!

_GoldenDragon326:_ Yay, someone who's not too distracted by Kouichi's death to comment on the freaky telekinetic twin powers! (lol) Thanks for reviewing!

_TobiGB:_ I'm glad you liked the fight scene! Heh, sorry Itachi! Zetsu, you can not eat Kouichi and Sasori, you can not turn Kouichi into one of your creepy little puppets! Man, I wish there was a full, good version of Darkness in My Heart somewhere on the internet! But I digress. Thanks for the brownies and review! (Sasuke was a pig and ate all the cookies, though!)

_Dawn of Glory:_ Heh, sorry Dawn! Oh, you want to put Kagemon in the story? Sounds good to me! Just send some details my way, Sakura! Thanks for the review!

_SeaSpectre160:_ Yeah, I'm pretty sure no one saw it coming judging from the reviews I got. (lol) Thanks for this review!

_garnettfox:_ I'm glad it was cool! And the gang didn't have time to grab Witchmon and Dragramon before heading out, but of course Dragramon can Digivolve to Drakemon and Mistikmon, silly! Alright, thanks for reviewing!

_JewelledTears:_ I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry! Please don't kill me! Sasuke, defense mode! (_Sasuke:_ What the heck is a Light Saber?_ gets hit with Light Saber_ Ow!) Uh, I'm sorry!

_DigiBleach:_ Here's your hat, DigiBleach! (lol) Yeah, I thought Shino should have some sort of nickname, and since his mother is a doctor, he's Doctor Shino! Read on to find out more about Nina (that's her name) and thanks for reviewing!

_61wisampa:_ Kouichi has now died twice, just like Buffy! (And Angel and Spike, now that I think about it!) Sadly, I don't plan to kill either JP or Kouji. (_Kouji and JP:_ Sadly?) Thanks for reviewing!

_fg1fg:_ Heh, I'm glad you liked all the things you mentioned, especially the heart attack reference! (Because if Light were to kill any of them off, Kouji would be the most likely candidate.) Nothing specific happened at school, it just completely sucks this year. But I'll be okay. Thanks for reviewing!

_Kirae-Remi:_ …Wow, you're a physic! Plus, you must have noticed the title is REBIRTHING! (lol) Thanks for reviewing!

_Rain621:_ Heh, sorry new reader buddy! Just keep reading and I guarantee you'll feel better! And I guess Dai can be scary at times…thanks for reviewing!

-

_madjack89:_ Okay, without further adieu, enjoy chapter 22! (Hey, that rhymed!)

—

Kouichi's eyes shot open. He turned his head quickly, then did a three-sixty, trying to make sense of the images around him.

He seemed to be floating in a white space, surrounded on all sides by moving pictures of his friends, his mother, even his deceased grandmother. It took him a moment, but Kouichi realized that these floating pictures were his memories, flying past him in a jumble of shapes and colors. There was no noise, though. Everything was completely silent.

"Where am I?" he wondered out loud, his voice echoing throughout this vast area of white light and color. "Zoe!" No one answered. "Kouji!" Still no one answered. "Takuya, Kira, Shino, JP, Hotaru, Dai, Tommy, anybody!" His voice was lost in the endless space.

"Where is everyone?" Kouichi closed his eyes, beginning to get dizzy from all the images spinning around him. "I'm alone."

As if that statement were a secret code, the pictures around Kouichi began to fade until only the white light remained. Kouichi glanced left and right, then took a slow step forward. His foot seemed to land on something solid, despite the fact that he'd just stepped out into the white space. He took another step, then another, and soon he was walking through the vast sea of white, searching for anyone or anything that could explain this to him.

As he walked, his memories of what happened just before he'd landed here flashed before him. He'd gone in search of Zoe and Duskmon…he'd found them…he'd challenged Duskmon to a fight…he'd been beaten…and Duskmon had stabbed him.

Kouichi touched his hand to his chest, feeling the spot where the blade had been thrust through him. He remembered the pain, the confusion, and Zoe's anguished expression when she had watched him fall.

"I'm dead," Kouichi said, confirming it to himself. "I'm really dead."

Kouichi wrapped his arms around himself, suddenly feeling infinitely cold and alone. He was dead, while everyone else was alive and suffering because of his death. He hadn't even managed to kill Duskmon. His business was still unfinished, but there was nothing he could do.

A tear escaped his eye, but he made to move to wipe it away as it rolled down his cheek. "I didn't want to die yet!"

"You're not dead, silly kitty!" Kouichi's head shot up when he heard a female voice echo throughout the white space.

"Zoe?" he asked tentatively. "Kira?"

"Ha ha, of course not! They can't get into your head!" As the voice spoke this time, the white space began to fade to gray, then black. And as the darkness overtook the space, Kouichi noticed a figure standing a few feet away from him.

It was a girl, about half an inch shorter than Kouichi, with the palest skin Kouichi had ever seen on anyone healthy. Her hair was jet black and fell all the way to her waist. She wore a black, sparkling, low-cut dress and black, strappy high-heels. (I don't know what you would call the shoes, I'm no fashion expert.)

But what truly caught Kouichi's attention were the girl's big, violet eyes. Kouichi tried to tear his gaze away from those eyes, but quickly realized he couldn't. They were almost…hypnotic.

The girl smiled, as if satisfied by Kouichi's stare. "Come hither, Warrior," she said with authority, beckoning with her hand for Kouichi to come closer.

Without thinking, Kouichi walked forward, stopping a foot from where the girl stood. The girl giggled, apparently finding something funny. "I love how it's so easy to put people under my thrall! It makes things so much more interesting!"

"Thrall?" Kouichi shook his head, broken from the girl's spell by her statement. Then he looked the girl up and down, careful not to look directly into her eyes. "Who are you?"

"I have many names," the girl said, drawing little circles in the air with her finger. "You may call me Nina. As for what I am, I am Darkness."

—

Zoe didn't think she'd ever be able to stop crying once the tears came. They continued to flow down her face as she fell to the ground, leaning heavily against a tree.

"Kouichi," she said repeatedly through her sobs, willing him to get back up, like he'd done before. But he would never get back up again. He'd never smile, never laugh, never hold her hand, never stroke her hair softly, never hug her, never kiss her, never comfort her. Kouichi, the one boy she'd ever truly loved with all her heart, was dead.

"Don't cry." Zoe heard Duskmon say this, but she didn't bother looking up at the killer. She might do something she'd regret, not that it mattered now. "This was necessary."

"Necessary?!" Zoe's voice squeaked when she yelled this hysterically between her sobs. "You killed him, you murderer!"

Duskmon sighed, seeming annoyed by Zoe's grief. "Nina had better hurry up. I can't handle this girl much longer."

Zoe didn't know what Duskmon was talking about and didn't care. She just continued her grieving, burying her face in her hands. (Would this be a good time for a brownie from TobiGB?) "No!" (Okay, okay…)

"Oh my god." Zoe did look up when she heard this voice, mostly because it surprised her that Kira was even there. She quickly saw that the whole gang stood around her, eyes locked on Kouichi's body in the clearing.

Zoe glanced over all her friends' pained, upset, confused expressions. Each one broke her already-shattered heart into tinier pieces. Then she stopped her gaze on Kouji.

Kouji looked so anguished that it caused tears to flow down her face in a larger volume than they had before. She quickly got to her feet, facing Kouji.

"Kouji," she began, voice shaky. "I'm so sorry. I couldn't protect him. He just…he just…"

"Don't!" Suddenly, Zoe was in Shino's arms, wrapped in a tight hug. "Don't," he said again, holding her firmly. "You couldn't do anything to stop him. It's not your fault."

Zoe wound her arms around Shino, his voice having cracked twice when he spoke. "I loved him," she whispered into Shino's shoulder, her sobs coming back.

"I know," Shino replied, tears coming to his eyes as well. "I know."

Around these two, the message was beginning to really sink in with the others. Their friend, Kouichi, lay dead a few short feet from where they stood, and they hadn't been there to help him.

"No way," JP muttered, eyes wide with shock. "No way…no freaking way…"

"Chief," Kira said quietly, tears forming in her eyes. "You freaking idiot!" Along with yelling this statement as loud as she could, Kira also punched Takuya in the arm, hard.

Takuya didn't react, though it must have hurt. His gaze was fixed on Kouichi, though he desperately wanted to turn away. But he just couldn't make himself. "I didn't even think he'd do something like this…oh god!"

"Taki!" Kira threw her arms around Takuya, who was no longer able to hold back tears. The others gave up all attempts at hiding their grief as well, though Hotaru did turn his head, still not completely comfortable with showing too much emotion around people.

"It looks as if you were all a bit late and missed the show." Everyone's heads snapped up when they heard Duskmon speak. Duskmon was leaning casually against a tree, acting very nonchalant despite the glares the others were giving him.

"You…" Takuya wanted to call Duskmon something very inappropriate for virgin ears (That means you, Tommy!) but he couldn't think of anything bad enough to describe him.

Luckily, Tommy could. "You big fat meanie!"

The others stared at Tommy for a moment, caught somewhere between bemusement and astonishment that Tommy had been the one to call out Duskmon on being a "meanie."

"Duskmon." The moment of silence was broken when Kouji muttered Duskmon's name, turning to glare with unconcealed anger at the dark Digimon. "You know, it's funny; I didn't actually think that you'd go through with killing him. I thought you'd just beat the ever-loving crap out of him, give him a cryptic message, and be on your merry way.

"Well, I guess the joke's on me now," Kouji continued, trembling with rage. "You really killed Kouichi, and you did it pretty artfully, what with the whole kidnapping Zoe plot."

Kouji lowered his head but at the same time raised his D-Tector. "As they say, Duskmon, be careful when you're playing rough; you might lose an eye." (Oh snap, crackle and pop!)

—

Kouichi stood staring at Nina, who'd been dancing around in a circle for several minutes because she was "so super duper happy that he was there!" He took an instinctive step back, fearful of what she'd do next. "Uh, are you ever going to explain what you said to me before about you being…Darkness?"

Nina stopped abruptly, turning to stare thoughtfully at Kouichi. "You don't know what that means?"

Kouichi shook his head. "That's what I've been saying for the past ten minutes while you've been dancing."

Nina instantly straightened back up, growing to her full height (though if she was trying to be threatening it didn't work because Kouichi had a height advantage on her). "Okay, basically, I'm 'Darkness,' not 'Light.'" She made air quotes around the words darkness and light, speaking slowly as if to a child. Then, satisfied with the answer she'd given, she continued to hop around in a giddy fashion.

Kouichi's eyes narrowed as he got increasingly annoyed. "That didn't explain anything!"

"Yes it did!" Nina replied, jumping up and down in front of Kouichi. "It's obvious from what I said that I am Darkness, as in the first, last, only Darkness. I am the very core of what Darkness is, and I gave myself a semi-physical shape in order to communicate with you and anyone else I wish to communicate with, like Duskmon!"

Kouichi's eyes slowly began to widen with comprehension. "So you're saying that you're just…Darkness?"

"That's what I said, silly kitty!" Nina said, grinning at Kouichi. "And you are my Warrior of Darkness!"

"No!" Kouichi said quickly, taking several large steps back. "That's not me. You must be looking for Lowemon. I'm just human."

Nina giggled at Kouichi, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Oh kitty, you're much more than that! I mean, if it weren't for you, Lowemon would really be dead! But thanks to you, he's not, so you have my undying gratitude!"

Kouichi glanced at her hand on his shoulder. It felt cold, not at all like when Zoe would place her hand on the exact same spot. Zoe felt alive, but Nina…

Kouichi quickly shook Nina's hand off of him, taking another several steps back. "What do you want?"

Nina held her hand gingerly with her other, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. "Why are you being so mean, kitty? I just wanted to see you again."

Kouichi flinched as Nina began to cry, tears streaming down her face. "Don't cry, Nina," he said, hanging his head. "Look, I'm sorry for being suspicious. If all you wanted to do is see me, that's fine."

Nina instantly perked up, tears drying on the spot. "Good! Now we can discuss what we're going to do about that brother of yours, the horrible Warrior of Light!"

Kouichi's eyes widened in shock, feeling confused by the sudden change in topic. "What does Kouji have to do with any of this? You said you wanted to see me."

"And I did!" Nina chirped. "But that doesn't mean I'll ever forgive him for stealing you away from me in the first place. He has to pay for his actions, along with the Light he represents!"

"Pay?" Kouichi's thoughts were swirling around in a confusing circle in his mind. Then he began to actually consider what Nina had just said. "You're mad because Kouji purified me?"

"No, I mean before, when Lobomon did it!" Nina cried impatiently. "But your brother is a repeat offender, so they'll both pay for what they did to me, and to you."

Kouichi was still confused beyond belief by everything that was happening, but managed to ask, "How did they steal me away from you, exactly?"

Nina's face suddenly grew cold and serious. "They poisoned you with Light, Kouichi. They completely covered you in it. After that happened, no matter what, I couldn't talk to you, couldn't touch you, couldn't even get near you. And it was all thanks to the Warrior of Light befriending you, brainwashing you. It was sickening to watch."

"Wait," Kouichi said, realizing something that Nina was saying didn't add up. "If you couldn't get near me because of Kouji, then how can you do it now? Is it because I'm…" Kouichi couldn't bring himself to say "dead."

"I already said that you aren't dead, kitty," Nina said, reading Kouichi's thought. "Duskmon's sword didn't kill you. Quite the opposite, in fact."

Kouichi didn't particularly like the gleam in Nina's eye. "What do you mean?"

Nina chuckled softly, apparently amused by Kouichi's confusion. "Duskmon's attack saved you. His blade was surrounded with my essence when he stabbed it through you. It caused you absolutely no physical harm. However, it did do one very important thing."

Nina smiled sweetly before saying, "It purged you of Light entirely."

—

Duskmon barely had time to block Beowulfmon's saber (dang it, it's not a Light Saber!) as it was nearly brought down on his head, wielded by a furious-looking Beowulfmon.

Beowulfmon quickly changed tactics, pushing Duskmon back with his saber. While Duskmon stumbled back, Beowulfmon raised his other arm and fired a volley of missiles and a laser at his opponent.

Duskmon barely dodged out of the way and the attack just managed to graze his armor. Duskmon flinched slightly, feeling the pain the attack had caused. Then his blades shot out of his arms and he charged at Beowulfmon.

Beowulfmon used his saber as a shield against Duskmon's attack, stopping Duskmon's forward momentum. The two glared at each other for a brief moment, then continued their bout, moving farther into the clearing.

However, it wasn't their lightning fast reflexes or powerful attacks that astonished Kira. "Okay, what the hell is a Beowulfmon?" she asked, turning to Takuya.

Takuya jumped slightly, startled by Kira's question. He took a deep breath to calm his trembling voice and said, "It's Kouji's Fusion Evolution. It's like a combination of his Human and Beast Spirits. I can Fusion Evolve too, but no one else can."

"Lucky bums," Kira muttered, staring at the fight. "So, you sure we can't just go give pretty boy a hand, even though it looks like he's holding his own?"

Takuya glanced at Kira. "You just want a piece of Duskmon, don't you?"

"Hell yeah, I do!" Kira exclaimed, eyes still wet with tears. "That bastard…he killed Kouichi!"

"I know," Takuya said, voice beginning to crack. He took another breath to try to calm himself, then added, "But what good would it do for the rest of us to get ourselves killed along with him?"

"What about Kouji?" Kira retorted stubbornly, desperately needing something to fight at this point.

Takuya glanced at Beowulfmon, at the fiery hatred burning in his eyes. "I don't think we could stop him even if we tried."

"This isn't good for him." Takuya and Kira turned, wondering what Hotaru meant by this statement. "He's completely fueled by anger and grief," Hotaru continued, narrowing his eyes at Kouji. "I know from experience that that can only lead to trouble."

Takuya and Kira realized that Hotaru was right. Kouji was being driven dangerously close to the edge of insanity from his grief. Sure, he may be able to kill Duskmon and avenge Kouichi's death. But what then?

"We have to stop him," Takuya said simply, grabbing his D-Tector. "You with me, Hotaru?"

Hotaru nodded, holding up his D-Tector.

"What about me?" The others glanced at Dai, whose face was still tear streaked. Despite this, he looked determined, gripping his D-Tector tightly. "I want to help."

"I'm with Dai," Kira added, turning to Takuya. "I didn't hear you mention me, Taki."

"That's because neither of you are going out there," Takuya said simply. "We're not just dealing with Duskmon. Kouji could attack us on accident and not even notice. And last time I checked, you're sick," here Takuya pointed at Dai, then pointed to Kira, "and you're a loose cannon. Neither are needed in this situation."

Anticipating their arguments, Hotaru added, "Besides, it looks like you guys might be needed here." Kira and Dai glanced at the others and realized that Hotaru was right. JP looked completely shell-shocked, Zoe was still sobbing into Shino's shoulder, and Tommy was trembling slightly, eyes wide with confusion.

"Are you telling me we have to play Dr. Phil?" Kira asked sarcastically, her spunk returning slightly. The other two, however, were already headed toward Beowulfmon and Duskmon and had therefore not heard her statement.

Takuya and Hotaru stopped at the edge of the clearing, not wanting to get too close to the fighting until they'd made a plan. Hotaru turned to Takuya and said, "Alright, we should probably Spirit Evolve. Kouji's dangerous right now, and we don't know if he'll attack us for trying to stop him—"

Hotaru stopped talking abruptly, noticing Takuya's wide-eyed, horrified expression. His gaze was fixed on Beowulfmon, and it finally seemed to have dawned on him that Kouji was losing it. There was no tact behind Beowulfmon's attacks, first of all. He was just attacking, and that wasn't like Kouji at all. Then there were his eyes, which showed a strange glint in them that sent a shiver down Takuya's spine.

"He's gonna kill him," Takuya said softly, fear rising in him. "He's really gonna kill Duskmon, Digi-Egg and all. He won't even give him a second chance. He'll just kill him…"

"And that's why we're stopping him!" Hotaru yelled angrily, trying to snap Takuya out of his stupor. Hotaru then grabbed Takuya by the shoulders, looked him straight in the eye, and said, "I understand what Kouji's going through. He's mad, and he wants to take it out on something. But if we let him kill Duskmon, he'll completely lose his innocence. I…I almost killed myself once, after I nearly murdered that boy I told you about. We can't let that happen to Kouji. Understand?"

Takuya nodded slowly, slightly unnerved by what Hotaru had revealed about himself. "Let's go."

—

For a second, Kouichi didn't really comprehend what Nina had said. He'd been purged of light? How was that possible? But if Nina was darkness personified…

Kouichi gave Nina a confused look and said, "What did you do to me?"

Nina giggled. "You're such a funny kitty! You always need such big, complicated explanations! But that, I suppose, is the way of the young and naïve. You must have these kinds of things spelled out for you before you understand."

Nina's expression grew serious as she continued, "Long ago, before the fall of Lucemon and the deaths of the ten Legendary Warriors, you, or should I say, Lowemon was my warrior alone. In fact, I created him, as well as Ilsemon, and I helped created Lucemon. My sister, Light, created Lobomon, Masumon, and also helped with Lucemon.

"We created Lucemon in order to restore peace to the Digital World, because it had fallen into chaos. Ilsemon and Masumon were created to help give Lucemon balance. As you well know, the line between light and darkness, good and evil, is quite thin. It takes little to tip the balance between the two, doesn't it?"

Kouichi didn't respond, though he knew exactly what Nina was talking about. "Anyway," Nina said, "Lowemon and Lobomon were created for our own benefit. They were to be our links to the Digital World, since we could not be there ourselves. Lowemon was my trusted, loyal warrior…until he met Lobomon by chance one day.

"After that, everything changed. Lowemon grew more and more distant, and then he shunned me entirely." Nina paused, pain showing in her eyes from the memory. Then she looked angry. "And it was all because of that awful Warrior of Light! He took my warrior away from me! It was this that made me realize the truth: Light is evil, demonic, and cruel. That is why I can't stand to be near light; that is why I got Ilsemon to persuade Lucemon to try to spread darkness throughout the Digital World; that is why I saved Duskmon from death; and that is why I've used my power, coupled with Duskmon's ability to touch you, to completely rid you of your brother's terrible influence, and bring you back to me at last."

Kouichi wasn't sure how to respond to Nina's story at first. On the one hand, it explained exactly what had caused Lucemon's fall from grace. But there was something that just didn't make much sense to Kouichi. Why would Lowemon have abandoned Nina just because he met Lobomon? Neither of them were that cruel…or were they?

"You're questioning your beliefs," Nina stated, smiling at Kouichi's troubled expression. "You should, because you've been lied to. Light isn't as righteous as you've been led to believe. Your brother…"

"Leave Kouji out of this!" Kouichi snapped quickly, holding on to the one thing he knew to be true. "Kouji would never do anything like that to me!"

"Kouichi," Nina said, eyes and voice softening. "I'm trying to save you. Don't you see that? I had always thought that my sister would never betray me, either. But I was wrong. She took away my happiness. Now, she's trying to do it again, by planting these lies in your head, so that you can't see the truth when it's right in front of you."

Kouichi closed his eyes, trying to pinpoint where his brother was. He knew he could do it if he concentrated. He'd done it before. He'd be able to sense Kouji if he truly wasn't dead.

Kouichi stood with his eyes shut for a solid three minutes, but nothing happened. He couldn't sense him, no matter how hard he tried. Kouichi opened his eyes quickly, staring straight into the violet eyes of Nina. He quickly turned his head, still remembering the effect her eyes had had on him, and muttered, "You severed our connection. He'll really think I'm dead."

"He already DOES think you're dead, kitty," Nina corrected Kouichi, a big smile on her face. "In fact, all of those children do! But don't worry, Duskmon will keep them busy until I'm done with you!"

"Done with me?" Kouichi asked numbly, feeling worn out from all the new information he'd gotten in such a short time.

"But of course!" Nina replied, her giddiness returned. "I have big plans for you, my brave little warrior! We're going to cover this world in darkness, so that we'll never be hurt or betrayed again! But before that, I'm charging you with the task of killing the Warrior of Light. The others I'm sure we can convert, but he must die."

Kouichi flinched, but still said boldly, "And what if I refuse to do any of that?"

"And here comes the unveiling of my grand master scheme!" Nina exclaimed, laughing happily. "You may not agree with my way of looking at things at the moment, but soon, you won't have a choice."

—

"You sure you're gonna be okay, JP?" Kira asked, glancing back at her friend once again.

JP sighed, getting tired of this routine. "Go talk to Zoe, Kira. You're the only other girl of the group. It's your feminine duty."

"I am not stalling, if that's what you're implying!" Kira said angrily, though she clearly was. "I'm just making sure you're not going back into shock."

JP's eyes lowered as he stared sadly at his feet. "I've gotten past the shock and gone straight to the guilt, but I think I can handle that on my own. What I can't handle is seeing Zoe so miserable over there. Now please, go help Shino comfort her. You're her best friend."

Kira's eyes widened slightly at JP's "best friend" comment. She'd never been anyone's best friend before. She hadn't even realized that Zoe thought of her that way, especially after what she'd done with her Beast Spirit…

Kira shook her head quickly. She was sad enough as it was without those thoughts weighing her down. She had to concentrate on the here and now. So, with assuredness, Kira walked toward Zoe, who was still in Shino's arms.

_I'm not sure I want to know what's going on in the back of Shino's mind right now_, Kira thought when she glanced at Shino. She could imagine that, in his darker thoughts, Shino might actually be a little happy that Kouichi was out of the picture. Catching Zoe on the rebound…but Shino wasn't like that. Still, Kira decided that later, she'd have to get Takuya or JP to maybe talk to him.

Finally, Kira stood next to Zoe and Shino, neither of whom noticed her presence. Kira took a deep breath and said, "Zee, I'm really sorry."

Zoe's head quickly shot up, and she snapped her head to the right to see who had spoken. Shino lifted his head too, only more slowly, as if he wanted to make his time with Zoe last.

"Kira," Zoe whispered, eyes still brimming with tears.

"Yeah, it's me," Kira said, trying not to tear up herself at the sight of her friend.

Zoe slowly lowered her arms and took a step back from Shino, then scanned the outskirts of the clearing with her eyes. When she'd looked over the entire space, she turned back to Kira and asked, "Where's Kouji?"

Suddenly, the ground next to the three exploded, sending up a cloud of dust and dirt and causing them to fall as the earth under them shook from the blast it had endured.

For a moment, Kira was completely stunned. Then she heard Takuya yell, "Kouji, what the hell is wrong with you?!"

Then Hotaru, "Takuya, they're fine! Calm down!"

Takuya, "That doesn't change the fact that he fired his attack without any regard for the safety of the others!"

Hotaru, "I realize that, but…"

Takuya, "But nothing! He's lost it, and…and nothing's bringing him back! Just look at him! Now we've lost him and Kouichi!"

Kira sat up slowly, looking around to see where Takuya's and Hotaru's voices were coming from. She finally found them standing right in front of her…just as Zoe shoved past them and raced into the clearing toward Kouichi's body.

Kira jumped to her feet, wondering what in the world Zoe was thinking. Then she saw Duskmon standing next to Kouichi, with Beowulfmon preparing to blast him to oblivion, along with Kouichi's body. Zoe wanted to protect Kouichi, even in death. She was going to try to shield his body.

Then a new twist was added as Shino rushed out after Zoe, trying to protect the one he loved at the cost of his own life.

Kira watched in wide-eyed horror as Zoe laid herself over Kouichi's body, and Shino stood steadfastly in front of Zoe, shielding her from Beowulfmon's pending attack.

Finally, Kira found her voice and screamed, "Why is love such a freaking bitch?!"

—

"You can't make me do anything," Kouichi repeated for the twentieth time, clutching his head in his hands.

"You know that I can," Nina retorted, walking slow circles around Kouichi. "You're covered in darkness yet again, warrior. You're mine, and you know it. Why fight it? Just give in."

"No!" Kouichi kept his eyes shut tight, though it did him no good now. Nina's words were pounding in his head, making him feel like his skull would split apart at any moment. Not only that, but he could feel the darkness coursing through, just as it had when he'd been Duskmon. The raging desire to give in to his darker side was nearly overwhelming.

Nina giggled gleefully. "Oh good, you're finally wearing down! Oh, we'll have so much fun together…"

Kouichi stopped listening as he sank to his knees. The pain had become too intense. He couldn't fight it anymore. He had to give in to Nina, to his darker desires. He really had no choice…

"Kouichi."

Maybe he really would die now, and his darker self would just take his body…

"Kouichi."

That voice sounded familiar…

"Kouichi!"

Kouichi's eyes shot open, but not to the darkness he thought he would see. Above him there was darkness, but it was different from what he'd thought it would look like. There seemed to be leaves flying across it, as if caught in a breeze.

Then he felt the breeze himself. He lifted his head slowly, trying to figure out where he was now.

Then he both saw and felt her. Zoe was lying on top of him, her head resting on his chest and her hands tightly clutching his shirt. And she was crying.

Kouichi's eyes softened as he lifted his arm and laid his hand on top of Zoe's head. "What's wrong?" he asked softly, not knowing whether this was just his own fantasy or not. Just his subconscious giving him one last look at what he was leaving behind…

Zoe's head snapped up so fast that Kouichi's hand was knocked off her head. She stared at Kouichi with wide, red-rimmed, tear-stained eyes for a minute. Then she whispered, "Kouichi?"

"Yeah," Kouichi replied, getting a bit confused. Why would he imagine Zoe lying on top of him and crying?

Suddenly, Kouichi found himself being swept into one of the tightest hugs he'd ever experienced. He winced, his limbs feeling stiff. Zoe was holding him so tightly that Kouichi thought she'd never let go.

"Kouichi's alive!" she yelled loudly, beginning to cry again, this time from relief.

That statement gave Kouichi his confirmation of where he was. Somehow, he'd managed to escape from Nina. He'd been brought back to his body, back to the others.

But he wasn't free. He could still feel a darkness coursing through him, though it felt tamer than it had before. He could bear it now. What he couldn't bear was facing his brother with the damaged state he was in. Nevertheless, he had to be sure that Kouji was okay.

With a bit of difficulty, Kouichi turned his head to his right and saw his brother, in his Fusion Evolved form. Duskmon and Shino were there as well, but he barely noticed that fact. He was busy concentrating on Beowulfmon, whose arm was slowly lowering.

Their eyes locked for a moment, Beowulfmon's in shock and astonishment, Kouichi's in relief and, at the same time, guilt. Then Beowulfmon was engulfed in data and, in a matter of seconds, Kouji stood in the middle of the clearing, tears forming at the corners of his eyes. "Kouichi…?"

Kouichi quickly lowered his head, feeling complete and utter shame. He hadn't beaten the darkness inside himself. He'd been saved by the voices of his friends, calling his name. They'd brought him back, saved him. But he was still tainted, and Kouji was the only one who would be able to fully grasp that.

Everything that happened next mostly happened in a blur for Kouichi. Duskmon said something along the lines of, "It won't be long now," and ran from the clearing, the others rushed toward him and started hugging him and crying and asking questions, he was half-dragged back to camp, all the Digimon were relieved that he'd survived.

Finally, he was left alone in a cavern. It was the last thing he wanted, but at the same time, he wanted to get away from all the others, hide the shame and guilt he felt. Then, when a particularly painful pang coursed through him, spreading the darkness farther into his limbs, he knew he had no choice.

He had to leave before he was turned into a soulless monster.

—

_madjack89:_ Sorry this chapter took so long, but look! Kouichi's not dead!

_Kouichi:_ Well, I'm alright in the physical sense.

_Kouji:_ It's enough that you're alive.

_Zoe:_ Kouji's right. That was the worst chapter to have to endure ever.

_Sasuke:_ Oh, suck it up.

_madjack89:_ You're such a hypocrite, Sasuke!

_Sasuke:_ Hey, do you see my parents popping back up from the dead? Nope, I don't think so!

_madjack89:_ Hotaru, kindly escort Sasuke out of here.

_Sasuke:_ What about my pay?!

_madjack89:_ Yeah, about that…I was never going to pay you. Bye, Sasuke!

_Sasuke:_ Damn you, Madjack! _dragged away by Hotaru_

_Dai:_ Didn't I tell you guys it would work out in the end?

_Takuya:_ You didn't tell us anything about the chapter, Dai.

_Dai:_ Uh…well, see you guys in the next chapter, where this story arc shall conclude and another arc focusing on Kouji will follow after it!

_Kouji:_ Oh, for the love of god!


	23. Ch 23: Unhinging

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 23: Unhinging**

_madjack89:_ Oh my god, I love you guys! We're only at the 23rd chapter, and already I have 11 more reviews than the number I originally had on F2HF! You readers are absolutely amazing!

_Kira:_ They're the bomb-diddly, yo!

_Everyone: stares at Kira_

_Kira:_ What?

_madjack89:_ Anyway, I just wanted to say sorry that I took a little while on the last chapter and kept you all in suspense, but thank you for sticking with this story as long as you have!

_Kouji:_ They probably just enjoy reading about the torture you put us through constantly.

_Takuya:_ If there's one thing I've learned from this story, it's that all writers are sadistic. Every single one.

_madjack89:_ You guys are a bunch of babies.

_JP:_ What was that? I couldn't hear you because I was too busy watching Duskmon ram a sword through Chief's chest.

_madjack89:_ You guys are never gonna get over that, are you?

_Everyone:_ No!

_madjack89:_ Eh, whatever. I'm just gonna answer reviews now!

-

_Aldamonburst:_ Technically they did, but this is my fanfiction, and I can do what I want! (lol) Nina's not supposed to be an evil name. That's why it's the perfect evil name! It's logical! Yeah! I don't feel like joining the dark side, army, or the Power Puff Girls. Too much work is involved in each. Alright, thanks for reviewing!

_Dawn of Glory:_ Hooray, he's the boy who lived! (lol) Poor Nina, and we'll see about Chief…thanks!

_TobiGB:_ Well, a lot of people do compare Kouji and Sasuke, but Kouji, in my opinion, pwns Sasuke! Oh yeah! And he is that weak, Itachi. And by the way, please don't accidently kill Kouichi in your fight. I don't know how many more deaths the boy can survive. (That didn't sound weird…) Glad you liked Nina's introduction, and I've got your gifts in this cage right here! (_Sasori:_ Can we have some cake at least?) Can puppets actually eat? (_Sasori:_ Well, technically not…) Here's some cake, Pain! (_Pain:_ Sweet.) (_Sasori:_ Madjack, you suck.) And here's some cake for you, L! (_L:_ Thank you.) (_Sasori:_ Oh, what the crap?!) Thanks, TobiGB!

_61wisampa:_ Kouichi is a complex individual, but then again, what Digidestined isn't? (_Takuya:_ Kazu and Kenta?) Touché, Taki. Thanks for reviewing!

_Rain621:_ Heh, all I can saw is keep reading and maybe my insane plot might actually start to make sense! And I will have LOTS of fun with this Kouji arc… (_Kouji:_ I'm probably gonna die. Great.) Thanks for reviewing! And it's pretty cool that you actually love this story!

_GoldenDragon326:_ Wahoo! (lol) I think darkness won this round. (_Nina:_ Did you hear that, kitty? We won!) (_Kouichi:_ Please stop following me around.) Speaking of Nina, she calls Kouichi (and Lowemon) a kitty because Lowemon resembles a lion, so she just associates that with kitties. And, in case you didn't already notice, Nina's insane. Oh, Kouji will be fine! He'll probably complain, but whatever! Thanks for reviewing!

_DigiBleach:_ Yes, yes he will. (_Kouji:_ Like I said, I'm probably going to die.) Sorry Kouichi, no hat for you! (_Kouichi:_ Go ahead and keep it, I don't mind.) Thanks!

_Kirae-Remi:_ You are indeed a psychic master! (lol) Yeah, Nina is kind of like that. She's one part cute, three parts crazy! I could see Kouji saying that, to! Ha! (Eventually someone's gonna have to poke one of Duskmon's eyes.) I'm very slow with introducing new Evolutions. Sorry! And Kira is always win! Thanks!

_beybladeingninjaprincess:_ (_Nina:_ Yay, a new friend!) (_Duskmon:_ Squishy darkness babies…?) Get out of here, you two! Well, you could beat Sasuke, at the very least, though I'm not familiar with the anime . I have heard of it from this little pamphlet I got with my season box sets of Yu Yu Hakusho, though! (_Yusuke:_ By the way, I'm NEVER gonna be your bodyguard. I've seen what you do to people…) Go away, Yusuke! Thanks for reviewing!

_fg1fg:_ (_Dai:_ Yay muffins!) Aw, no muffins. Oh well. That's funny, because lots of people compare Kouji and Sasuke, as they do Takuya and Naruto (though that could just be because they have the same Japanese seiyu…) Yeah, that's Nina for you. Well, there's sorta kinda something like that planned, but no holding hands are involved. I have something much more violent in mind (mua ha ha). Thanks for reviewing! (_JP:_ And thanks for the chocolate!)

_apapa155:_ Don't worry, I keep Nina under lock and key so she doesn't escape. I'll put Mia down as a definite bodyguard consideration. Thanks for reviewing!

_hazeleyedharmony:_ Nice first thought! And believe me when I say that the month of September just DRAGGED by, but it's gotten a little better this month. (_Kouichi:_ …Well, I'll just go die, then.) Kouichi, get back here. My main basis for Nina's personality was to make her as crazy as possible! And I believe I succeeded! (lol) I'm sorry, roommate person! Thanks for reviewing, hazel!

_garnettfox:_ Well, I basically just wanted Nina to be as crazy as possible without her being completely over-the-edge nuts, so I guess she's based off me. (lol) I'll check out your stories soonish! Thanks for reviewing!

_Ladyaura12:_ I love Frankenstein! I'm reading it for AP Lit right now, and it is AMAZING! But, back to the review. I hate zombies too! They're creepy! Oh, hello Yin! I promise not to compare you and Kouji! Aw, poor Sasuke! He's not my favorite character ever, but I don't hate him per say. Aw, poor Taki. (_Kira:_ …This could come in handy…) Alright…thanks for reviewing!

_UltimaEclipse:_ Hello new reader person! Welcome to my insanity! (lol) As long as you don't rip things off, you have my permission to use my pairings! Sasuke, give that wallet back! (_Sasuke:_ No!) Hotaru, attack! (_Hotaru: easily gets wallet back_) (_Sasuke:_ Damn you, Madjack!) Well, here's your wallet! Thanks for reviewing!

_Crazy Crazy LexiBear4:_ Kira and Taki both are flattered, as am I! That makes three of us, I've fallen countless times with my drum on in marching band but, on the plus side, have never hurt myself doing so! Thanks for reviewing!

-

_madjack89:_ And now it is time to put a close to this Kouichi/Zoe/Duskmon arc with KOUIZUMINESS! YAY!

_Kouichi and Zoe: stare at me like I'm crazy (cause I probably am)_

—

"Look at it, Kira," Zoe said, holding up her pink hat which now had a gaping hole through it, courtesy of Duskmon's sword.

"It looks pretty bad," Kira muttered, nodding to herself. "You want my opinion?"

"Sure," Zoe said.

"Get a new hat," Kira stated. Zoe frowned at Kira, who chuckled at her own quip.

"For you're information, Kira, this hat had sentimental value for me," Zoe huffed, staring at the ragged hat in her hands. "I got this hat from a friend in Italy who I haven't seen since I moved back to Japan. It's kind of like my way of remembering him."*

"Ever heard of a phone?" Kira retorted dryly.

"He never gave me any way to contact him," Zoe replied, giving her hat a wistful glance. "I wish he had."

Kira gave Zoe a quizzical look. "Did you and this guy have a thing?"

"Of course not! We were too young for that!" Zoe exclaimed, blushing from embarrassment. "Besides, I've already found someone in Japan that's right for me."

(*Author's Note: This is based on a random story idea I have that I may write and upload after the conclusion of Frontier 02. See, you don't have to be sad, I'll still write stuff concerning these guys after the story is over! But let's get back to the plot now, cause crazy stuff's about to go down.)

Kira nodded slowly, a thoughtful look crossing her face. "Hey Zee, can I ask you something about Kouichi? Due to recent events, I think I have the right to know this now."

"Okay," Zoe replied, already guessing what it was Kira was about to ask.

Kira paused, and then began, "So, about Chief and Duskmon…"

"Zoe, can I talk to you? In private?" Both Zoe and Kira turned and saw Kouichi standing in the middle of the cavern doorway, staring morosely at his feet as he had been since "rising from the dead."

Kira quickly took the hint and shuffled out of the cavern, muttering "See ya, Zee," on her way out.

A moment of silence followed Kira's departure. Zoe studied Kouichi, wondering what had been troubling him. She gave him a small smile and said, "You know, you don't have to stand across the room like that."

Kouichi looked hesitant, but ended up moving closer to Zoe until they were only about a foot apart. "That's better," Zoe said, taking a step toward Kouichi to lessen the gap between them even more. "Now, what did you want to talk to me about? And if it has anything to do with what I said before…"

"It doesn't," Kouichi said curtly, cutting Zoe off. "This is something else."

"Okay," Zoe muttered slowly, realizing that something was going on with her boyfriend. "What would this something be?"

Kouichi took a shuddering breath, as if what he was about to say were difficult for him. Zoe's brow creased with concern. "Kouichi, are you…?"

"We're done!" Kouichi finally blurted louder than he needed to.

Zoe's eyes widened in confusion, both from Kouichi's sudden shout and what he'd said. "What do you mean?" she asked meekly.

Kouichi lowered his gaze, not wanting to see Zoe's reaction to what he was about to say next. "I'm…breaking up with you."

—

"Taki!" Kira poked a sleeping Takuya in the side, whispering loudly in his ear. "Taki, I gotta talk to you! You can hibernate all you want later!"

Takuya blinked, staring blearily at Kira. "Hey, I know that you're kind of a night owl sometimes, but I need my sleep. Whatever you need to tell me can wait…"

"Tell me about your first encounters with Duskmon or I'm going straight to Kouichi with my questions," Kira threatened adamantly, crossing her arms.

Takuya exhaled slowly, defeated. "Fine, Kira. What's with your obsession with Duskmon, anyway?"

"At first, I was interested because you guys were hiding something about him from me, but now…" Kira paused, a flicker of worry crossing her features. "Just how powerful is he?"

Takuya sat up, choosing to stare at his feet. "When Duskmon first showed up, we were coming off the high of having beaten Petaldramon. We'd been about to scan Arbormon when Duskmon did it for us."

Kira nodded, mulling this over. "What a team-killing noob," she muttered. "So, what'd the 'badass' do next?"

"He attacked," Takuya replied, glancing at Kira. "None of our attacks seemed to have any effect on him, not even Kouji's."

"Pretty boy's Light Saber was powerless?" Kira said in wonderment. "Damn."

"Looking back, we were lucky we managed to get out of there when we did," Takuya continued, his mood seeming to plummet as his explanation went on. "I stupidly thought that my attack had beaten him. Kouji knew better. Sometimes I really wonder if it would have been better if he were the 'leader' instead of me."

"Don't start talking crazy now, Taki," Kira said with a smirk, plucking Takuya's goggles from the ground. "Could you imagine pretty boy with a pair of these?"

Takuya chuckled. "Probably not," he conceded, getting serious again quickly. "But I really did act like an idiot at first where Duskmon was concerned. He was and is still completely different from any other Digimon I've faced. He's a deadly combination of powerful, crafty, and ruthless. If you want to know a weakness, then I suggest you find one yourself, because without Kouichi's urge not to hurt Kouji—"

"What about Chief now?" Kira asked suddenly.

Takuya realized he'd misspoken too late. "Uh…it's nothing."

"Oh, don't give me that crap, Taki!" Kira said, frowning. "Those two are connected in some way, and I don't just want to know why, I have a feeling I NEED to know why."

Takuya held Kira's gaze for a moment, and then sighed. "I'll give you this much, Kira. First off, there is a connection between Kouichi and Duskmon. But I can't tell you what that is yet. What I'll say is that Kouichi made a horrible mistake that he's been regretting ever since."

Kira held Takuya's gaze for a moment, pondering this. Then she suddenly turned her head and hissed, "Stop pretending you're asleep, JP!"

From across the cavern full of sleeping forms, JP chuckled. "Sorry, but I wasn't actually asleep when you came in, so I couldn't help but to eavesdrop," he explained sheepishly, sitting up.

Takuya's eyes widened in surprise. He hadn't realized that JP had been listening the whole time. "I really need to get more attentive."

—

Zoe was rooted to the ground while everything around her seemed to crack and break. "What?"

Kouichi shoved his hands in his pockets, a sure-fire sign that he was extremely uncomfortable. "I'm sorry. This is probably the worst timing ever for me to be telling you this…"

"No shit," Zoe muttered sarcastically. As Kouichi's message finally began to sink in, Zoe realized that she wasn't upset about it. She was angry. "I'm more trouble than I'm worth, huh? Get killed trying to save me and you suddenly decide it's done?"

"You know that's not it," Kouichi said, giving Zoe a hard stare. "And I already told you, I wasn't dead. Duskmon didn't kill me."

"Yeah, because getting stabbed through the chest with a sword isn't good enough to kill you," Zoe said, fire burning in her eyes. "Listen, Chief, you can't just put me through that hell and then call it quits! That's not how it works!"

"You're crying," Kouichi stated softly, noting the tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Yeah, maybe I am!" Zoe yelled angrily, glaring at Kouichi. "I just…this came completely out of thin air! How did you expect me to react?"

Kouichi didn't reply, instead choosing to fix his gaze on his feet, hiding his eyes from view.

Zoe took several breaths to try to calm herself down, though it wasn't easy. Her emotions had quickly transitioned from anger to sadness and confusion. After a few more seconds of quiet, Zoe asked softly, "Was it my fault?"

"No," Kouichi said quickly, still not looking up. "This has everything to do with me."

"But I had to have done something," Zoe continued faintly, her voice losing more and more strength as she went on. "I've put you through so much…"

"It has nothing to do with you," Kouichi said, this time with a slightly harsh tone to his voice. "This is…for your own good."

"For my own good?" Zoe repeated, suddenly understanding what Kouichi meant by all this. "You don't want anything else to happen to me. You think distancing yourself from me will protect me."

Zoe shook her head, a small smile on her lips. "Kouichi, I feel safer when you're around me. You have to believe that. Breaking up isn't going to solve—"

"I'm leaving," Kouichi said, interrupting Zoe mid-sentence.

"But we're still having a conversation," Zoe muttered weakly, though she knew what Kouichi really meant. After a tense moment of silence, Zoe asked, "Why?"

Kouichi took a breath, then replied, "Because it would be best if I wasn't around anymore. I'm breaking up with you to prove to you that this is permanent and I'm not coming back."

Zoe was a bit thrown by Kouichi's explanation and couldn't help but show it. "What do you mean, 'it would be best if I wasn't around anymore?' You're making yourself sound like the bad guy."

"Maybe I am the bad guy," Kouichi muttered loud enough for Zoe to catch.

"Kouichi," Zoe said, feeling torn up inside. Kouichi had been brooding over something ever since he'd reawakened after being "killed." Zoe couldn't quite put her finger on it, but when she'd hugged Kouichi earlier, he'd seemed…less alive to her. And not in the sense that she could hardly believe that he was alive, but that he'd felt colder to her, less lifelike, almost as if someone had drained his light out of him and left nothing but his darkness…

"What did Duskmon do to you, Kouichi?" Zoe asked slowly, a trace of fear entering her voice.

Kouichi flinched. "You're afraid of me."

"I'm afraid FOR you," Zoe corrected, taking a step toward Kouichi. "Just tell me what's wrong."

Kouichi took a step away from Zoe as she took a step toward him. "You can feel it. I know you can, just like Kouji. I don't blame you. You should be afraid of me."

"Then why did you flinch before?" Zoe asked skeptically. "You don't want me to be afraid of you, and I'm not."

"Fine, don't be afraid of me. Be angry with me!" Kouichi snapped. "I just broke up with you! That has to get you a little mad at me, doesn't it?"

"We haven't broken up, because neither of us wants to break up," Zoe said simply.

Kouichi gave Zoe a quizzical look. "Zoe, I broke up with you. It's over."

Suddenly, Zoe chuckled. "Kouichi, the only way that I will believe that you really want to break up with me is if you tell me to my face that you don't love me."

"I don't love you," Kouichi mumbled almost immediately after Zoe finished talking. "There, we're broken up."

"Not so fast," Zoe said. "You have to look me straight in the eye and tell me sincerely, from the bottom of your heart, that you don't love me. Then, and only then, will I let you walk away from me."

Kouichi stared at the ground for several minutes, expressionless. Then he slowly lifted his head and met Zoe's gaze with a cold stare.

"Zoe, I don't love you."

—

"Why do things like this always happen?" Shino asked himself angrily, pacing back and forth.

"Did you come here to complain at me, or do you actually have a relevant cause for getting lost for at least twenty minutes before finding where I sleep?" Witchmon asked, getting a bit annoyed with Shino's self ponderings.

Shino sighed. "Sorry, Witchmon. I do have a couple of things to ask you."

"Shoot," Witchmon said nonchalantly.

"Well," Shino began hesitantly. "I want to know…what would happen if Wizardmon took control of me?"

"You mean, what would the process be like?" Witchmon asked. Shino nodded. "Well, let's see…knowing my brother, first he'd toy with you a little. He'd mess with your mind, put thoughts that aren't really yours in your head, play with your emotions, the basic mind game methods."

"And after that?" Shino continued, a slight note of urgency entering his voice.

"Well, after that, he'd start really trying to drive you crazy, making you paranoid that you weren't even you anymore, and that he was dictating everything you were doing. Then, depending on what Ilsemon wants with you guys, he could make you go one of two ways."

"Two ways?" Shino asked quietly, trying to hide the panic in his voice.

"Yup," Witchmon said, still not understanding the real reasons behind Shino's questioning. "Wizardmon could either completely break your will and turn you into a puppet (_Sasori:_ So Wizardmon can have a puppet but I can't?) (Quiet, you. And get back in your cage.) or he could just, I don't know, turn you all suicidal if Ilsemon wants you dead. Either way."

Shino didn't reply for a moment, eyes wide with fear. Witchmon gave him a small smile and patted him gently on the head. "Don't worry, Shino. That's not gonna happen to you. Besides, Wizardmon can't even get into your head, he's such a wimp!"

Witchmon chuckled, but Shino didn't even attempt to pretend that everything was fine. _I'm a liability,_ Shino thought._ I'm not good enough to resist Wizardmon's control, and if he does end up turning me into a puppet, the others will have no choice but to kill me. Either way, I'm gonna die. And the worst part is, it gets harder to control myself every time I'm near Zoe, but I can't bring myself to stay away from her. Especially with what just happened._

Suddenly, a new thought occurred to Shino, something that he hadn't wanted to consider to be true. But he couldn't deny the possibility any longer._ What if the only reason I love Zoe is because Wizardmon is making me think I love Zoe? If that's the case, then these feelings I have for her…aren't real._

—

Kouichi's expression remained cold, though on the inside, he was in utter turmoil. He knew that he had to do it. He had to hurt her in order to protect her. But he'd just told Zoe the one thing he'd never thought he'd say. Four simple words: I don't love you.

He quickly turned without seeing Zoe's reaction. He knew he wouldn't be able to hold back his emotions if she cried.

Before he could take one step in his departure, however, Zoe grabbed his arm, gripping him firmly. Kouichi sighed. "Zoe, please let go of my arm."

"If I do that, you'll leave," Zoe said simply. Kouichi could feel her breath on the back of his neck. She was right behind him. He quickly shut his eyes, trying desperately to keep his demeanor cold toward her.

After a moment, Zoe asked quietly, "Why did you lie to me?"

"About what?" Kouichi asked, equally quiet.

"You know what," Zoe said. Kouichi could almost picture her giving him a stern look. "You aren't exactly the best liar in the world, Kouichi. In fact, you're pretty bad at it. But I have to admit, for a second, you did make me think that you didn't love me.

"You gave yourself away, though," Zoe continued. "You turned around as soon as you said it. If you really didn't care about me anymore, you would have at least witnessed my reaction. So the question remains: why are you doing this to yourself?"

Kouichi could feel his hard exterior cracking, but what truly broke him down was an action that had become a regular occurrence for him. Zoe placed her hand on Kouichi's shoulder and squeezed it gently.

Kouichi's eyes shot open. He turned slowly on his heel, revealing to Zoe his true emotions, now showing plainly on his face. He was in pain, ashamed of his weakness, furious at himself for letting his inner demons torture him like this. But mostly, he was scared, as shown by his shaking body.

"Help me," Kouichi said before enveloping Zoe in a tight embrace. "Please forgive me," he pleaded as tears formed in his eyes. "I'm sorry, so so sorry…"

"Shhh," Zoe shushed quietly, holding on to Kouichi as tightly as he held her. "Just tell me what happened. I promise I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to. Okay?"

Kouichi took a shaky breath, then nodded. "Okay," he muttered, releasing Zoe.

Zoe waited patiently while Kouichi calmed his breathing, drying his eyes on his sleeve. "I'm sorry," he apologized again, slowly lowering his arm.

"Why do you keep apologizing?" Zoe asked gently, worry shining in her eyes.

"There's a lot to apologize for," he replied, staring despondently at the ground. "I…I can never make up for what I did. It can't be written off as my being controlled. I stupidly thought that it could, but I know that it was all me, nothing else…"

"Kouichi," Zoe began.

"I wanted you guys to like me," Kouichi continued, oblivious to Zoe's interruption. "I wanted you to accept me. I wanted to protect you. I didn't want you to think I was a monster. I didn't want to think I was a monster. I kept telling myself that I wasn't, and I eventually began to believe it.

"But it's a lie. There's been a monster in me, right from the beginning. And it craves death. She wanted me to kill Kouji…" Kouichi's breath caught in his throat as tears returned to his eyes.

Zoe quickly stepped forward and embraced Kouichi again. "Who wanted you to kill Kouji?" she whispered softly, as if there were eavesdroppers just outside the cavern opening.

Kouichi took several quivering breaths before replying, "Darkness. It was calling itself Nina. She told me…Duskmon's sword purged me of light."

Kouichi suddenly wrenched himself from Zoe's grip, taking several steps back. "You shouldn't be touching someone as dirty as me, when you're still so pure."

"Kouichi, no," Zoe said, shaking her head. "You'll be fine. I'm sure that Kouji will be able to…"

"I can't go to Kouji like this," Kouichi said as if it were obvious. "I'm…too ashamed to face him. He'll know exactly what's happened, because our bond is gone."

"Kouichi, Kouji would accept you no matter what," Zoe said reassuringly. "C'mon, let's go find him, and—"

"Argh!" Suddenly, Kouichi was on his knees, hugging himself in apparent agony.

"Kouichi!" Zoe quickly knelt by Kouichi's side to find the cause of his pain. Instead, she saw a dark aura begin to appear and swirl around Kouichi. It licked out at Zoe, as if taunting her with the fact that it had her boyfriend in its clutches.

Zoe narrowed her eyes, then swiftly grabbed Kouichi and pulled him into a tight hug. "Kouichi, it's me," Zoe said softly as if this would help. She thought she heard the cloth in front of the cavern entrance rustle, but she paid it no attention as she continued whispering things to Kouichi. "Kouichi, please come back. You're so much better than this Nina whoever. You can beat her. You're good, and kind, and…I love you so much!"

As if Zoe had uttered a magic spell, the darkness around Kouichi dissipated, and he slowly opened his eyes. "Oh, thank god!" Zoe exclaimed, holding Kouichi even tighter.

Kouichi didn't say anything for several minutes, letting Zoe have her moment. Then he said, "She tried to take control of me again. I was really breaking this time. She almost won…"

"But she didn't!" Zoe asserted, looking Kouichi straight in the eye. "You are much stronger than her."

"But you brought me back," Kouichi said softly, pure love showing in his eyes. "It was your voice that brought me back both times. You keep saving me…please don't leave me."

Zoe leaned closer toward Kouichi, muttering, "That promise goes both ways," before their lips met. As they kissed softly, Zoe resolved not to let Kouichi out of her sight until they could figure out how to fix Kouichi's problem…without Kouji's help.

—

"Of course!" Kouji yelled, banging his fist against the tunnel wall. "He wants HER to help him instead of me!"

Kouji took a slow breath, remembering the conversation he'd overheard. Kouichi had explained to Zoe what had happened to him while they'd thought him dead. He'd been right in saying that Kouji already knew that something was amiss. His and Kouichi's bond had been broken. It was THEIR bond, yet he'd chosen to tell Zoe before him…

"No," Kouji said, smiling weakly. "Instead of me. He was going to leave me guessing because he's…ashamed."

Kouji clenched his fists in frustration. "He's never been ashamed of telling me anything. I've always been the one he's gone to first. But now…"

An image of Zoe flashed through his mind. "Zoe's taken my place," he muttered, sinking to the ground as despair began to overtake him. He'd seen Kouichi sink to the ground as well, seen darkness engulf him, threatening to choke him. He'd rushed into the cavern, but Zoe had already taken Kouichi in her arms, whispering things in his ear. Kouji had seen the dark aura around Kouichi begin to dissipate, so he'd silently left, stumbled farther down the tunnel, and had ended up where he was now. Utterly alone.

"That's what I'll be from now on," he said to himself, resting his head on his knees. "Utterly alone."

—

"How much longer will it be?" Duskmon asked, carving a heart listlessly into a tree with his sword.

_~Oh, it shouldn't be too much longer,_ Nina replied, smirking. _~The only thing standing in my way is that little Warrior of Wind, who stupidly thinks she can oppose me! Not even the Warrior of Light himself dared challenge me tonight! At this rate, my kitty will be with me again soon!_

"And what happens to me after that?" Duskmon asked quietly, as if he were a bit reluctant to ask the question.

_~What happens to you?_ Nina repeated, slightly confused by the question. _~Why, you'll be free to do as you choose, as reward for all the help you've been to me! That's quite fair, wouldn't you say?_

"Yes, quite fair," Duskmon muttered, slashing through the heart he'd just carved into the tree. "Quite fair indeed."

—

_madjack89:_ And that concludes this arc!

_Everyone:_ WHAT?!

_Zoe:_ Nothing's been resolved! In fact, we have more problems than we did before!

_madjack89:_ Don't worry, this arc shall continue right after I've brought in a new character in the Kouji arc!

_Kouji:_ Oh god, you're bringing in a new character?

_madjack89:_ Who knows, you might like the character.

_Kouji:_ I highly doubt that.

_madjack89: _We'll see…alright, well, thanks for all those reviews on the last chapter, and see ya in the next chapter, where the Kouji arc will finally commence!

_Kouji:_ This is going to suck.


	24. Ch 24: Nightmares

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 24: Nightmares**

_madjack89:_ Wow, this place looks familiar!

_Kouji:_ Ha ha, very funny.

_Shino:_ Where've you been, anyway?

_madjack89:_ I was kidnapped by pirates! Of the Caribbean!

_Everyone:_ …

_Shino:_ …Where've you been, anyway?

_madjack89:_ Alright, I wasn't really kidnapped by pirates.

_Kouji:_ We didn't think you were.

_madjack89: grabs Kouji, shoves him out door, and locks door behind him_ Would you like to comment on what I just did, Kouichi?

_Kouichi:_ Honestly, he kind of had it coming to him.

_Kouji: from outside_ Screw all of you.

_madjack89:_ ANYWAY, I actually got distracted by a plethora of different things, such as homecoming, New Moon, playoffs, New Moon, LOSING a game in playoffs, New Moon…

_Takuya:_ You said New Moon three times.

_madjack89:_ Yeah, that was one of the bigger distractions. I'm not much of a football fan, anyway. I go cause I'm in band.

_JP:_ So New Moon distracted you from us, huh?

_madjack89: nods sheepishly_

_Shino:_ Damn you, Taylor Lautner.

_madjack89:_ Don't forget Jasper!

_Shino:_ AND Jackson Rathbone.

_madjack89:_ Hooray!

_Kouji: still from outside_ Can I come back in now?

_madjack89:_ You guys go let Kouji in while I answer reviews.

-

_61wisampa:_ Kouji should have a girl…oh well, we'll see what happens! And yes, I'm complicating the gang's matters to a very high level, but it's mostly for character and plot development! Thanks for reviewing!

_apapa155:_ It depends on who you think the new character is. Yeah, I could probably use Mia's assistance next chapter, since Kouji might be a little mad at me in future chapters. Oh well, thanks for the review, guys!

_TobiGB:_ Maybe Kouichi should punch Kouji again, that would be funny! OMG, KYON! I LOVE KYON! (_Kyon:_ …I'm just gonna leave now.) Bye Kyon! Wow Sasori, want me to call Jeri for you? (_Sasori:_ Why do you only pick on me?) Because you're a puppet! (_Sasori:_ …That doesn't explain anything!) Whatever, Sasori. Alright, thanks for the sweets and the review! (_Kouichi:_ Madjack, why is Itachi pointing a kunai at me?)

_Kirae-Remi:_ Aw, poor Dusky! *fries you along with the other Kouizumi "fangays"* KOUIZUMI! Okay, I'm calm now. Don't worry, I promise that something good will happen for Kouji in this arc. (_Kouji:_ Really?) Yup! (_Kouji:_ …I don't trust you.) Alright, whatever. Thanks for reviewing!

_GoldenDragon326:_ Yeah, I can't quite picture Kouji with goggles, either. He's more of a bandana/Light Saber guy. (lol) It wasn't anything big, it just annoyed Kira that someone was listening. Zoe's just intuitive like that! I'll give you a hint: the new character is indeed a girl! But that's all I'm telling you! Thanks for reviewing!

_Aldamonburst:_ Yes, yes it does. Aw, tell your bro that I hope he gets better soon! And don't you go catching it, Burst! Silly Night, I'd never steal things from Burst! We're internet homies, yo! (lol) Thanks for the review!

_hazeleyedharmony:_ You're welcome!  
-He has both.  
-Sorry!  
-Yeah, I can't even successfully picture it!  
-Indeed he is!  
-Well, I'm glad I could make you a little happy!  
-Sorry again!  
-Just wait until you find out what's about to happen next…  
-(_Kouichi:_ It is creepy.) (_Nina:_ Kitty!) (_Kouichi: quickly leaves_)  
-You don't even know the half of it. (_Kouji:_ …Yup, I'm gonna die.) No you won't, you big baby. Thanks for reviewing!

_ladyaura12:_ Well, I'm glad Kouji's misery pleases someone! Once again, poor Taki. Yay, your story's up! That genuinely excites me! (_Kira:_ Hey pretty boy, want a drink?) Bad Kira! _grabs sword_ Looks like I gotta go stop Kira from poisoning Kouji. Thanks for reviewing!

_DigiBleach:_ Oh, I should go check that out! Kassandra and Violet don't even need to be bodyguards; I'll just let them visit so they can make Kouji angry! (_Kouji:_ You suck!) Besides, the more insane the better, right Nina? (_Nina:_ Yuppers!) Alright, thanks for reviewing!

_UltimaEclipse:_ Mua ha ha, no resolution for them! (_Dai:_ Cookies!) _sigh_…Children. Oh well, have some cookies, Dai. Just not too many! (_Dai:_ Ai ai, MJ!) At least someone around here respects me…thanks for reviewing!

_garnettfox:_ I thank you very much! Sorry all your brain power's getting sucked though. That…well, it sucks! (lol)

_FE Girl 1:_ JP can have love when they get back to the human world! And Taki and Kira are very awesome! I don't even have to work hard to write for them! (lol) Thanks for reviewing!

_Rain621:_ Heh, Kira can get a little too hyper at times. It's not just Dai! Speaking of Dai, he and Hotaru were in the chapter, they just…didn't do anything. They aren't special right now. (_Dai: sniffle_) (_Hotaru: doesn't really care_) Moving on…KOUIZUMI! Okay, I'm good. Heh, the twins are cute I must admit. They're also fun to pick on! (Hee!) I'm not really sure how I came up with the name Nina exactly. I was brainstorming one time trying to come up with a name, but I couldn't think of anything, then suddenly Nina just popped into my head, and for some reason, it sounded perfect! That's the best I can explain the crazy inner workings of my brain! (lol) Gracias para el…reviewo! (Espanol IV, baby!)

_blossom1animefreak2 (aka FreakFactor):_ You enjoy breaking hearts, don't you? Well, you've come to the right story! Right, Shino? (_Shino:_ …Shut up.) Thanks for reviewing!

_fg1fg:_ It's a little more complicated than that, but that'll work for now! We'll see who the new character is when we get there (but for your info, it is a girl). Thanks!

-

_madjack89:_ Alright, time for some super-dee-duper F2R action! Ready, Kouji?

_Kouji:_ No.

_madjack89:_ Yes you are!

_Kouji: sigh_

—

Masumon buried her face in her hands, tears streaming down her cheeks. It seemed that each time Ilsemon tortured her, it took her longer and longer to recover from it. Surely she'd snap any day now.

Her only comfort was that, thanks to Witchmon's efforts, the Legendary Warriors had arrived safely at the Resistance encampment. She knew that they would be able to defeat her sister, hopefully before her brother was awakened.

When she thought of the Legendary Warriors she'd known long ago, she smiled. They'd all been so carefree and full of life…until her brother had ruined everything and they'd been forced to sacrifice themselves in order to defeat him. She hadn't witnessed that, of course; her brother had murdered her long before that. It was a miracle that she'd found a way to come back, with the help of…

Suddenly, a sharp pain split her temples, and she fell to the ground, clutching her head in agony. The pain was so intense that she soon slipped from consciousness, with one name flashing briefly through her mind.

_Kouji_…

—

"Hey pretty boy, quit napping! We have a rescue mission to commence!"

Kouji slowly sat up, rubbing his eyes sleepily. He'd had a strange dream last night, but he couldn't quite remember what it had been about. Not that it mattered, though. He'd found it increasingly hard to care much about anything that had been going on the past few days.

Kira noticed Kouji's somber expression and waved her hand in front of his face. "You okay, pretty boy?" she asked, concern entering her voice.

Kouji nodded, though it wasn't a very convincing nod. Before Kira could interrogate him further, Kouji was walking across the cavern, headed for the exit. "C'mon Kira, let's go save Masumon," he muttered half-heartedly, lifting up the flap to leave…

And running right into Kouichi. "Sorry," Kouji instantly mumbled an apology to his brother, not daring to even glance at the expression he knew Kouichi's gaze would hold. It was the same one he'd had around Kouji for several days. Fear.

"No problem," Kouichi muttered quickly, before hurrying farther down the tunnel.

Kouji could feel the pit of despair in him grow thanks to this new blow, and it was made even worse when Zoe passed by, following the route Kouichi had taken. "Hey Kouji," she greeted him cheerfully as she walked past. Kouji didn't reply.

"Hey Zee!" Kira said, shoving past Kouji in order to talk to Zoe. "I thought we were headed to the other side of the Uber Tunnel to meet up with Gotsumon!" she continued, referring to the meeting place Gotsumon had told them to meet at earlier for their debriefing (there had been much snickering among the gang when this term was used). "Uber Tunnel" was the name Kira had given the main tunnel in the Resistance's series of tunnels, and was the tunnel they currently stood in.

"We'll meet you there a little later, okay?" Zoe replied quickly, following Kouichi around the turn he'd just taken.

"Okie-doke," Kira said nonchalantly, turning back to Kouji. "Ready to go, Kouji?"

Kouji quickly changed his expression so that Kira wouldn't see how upset he'd been a moment before. Then he smirked and said, "Wow, I didn't think you actually knew what my name was, Yankee."

Kira frowned. "Same goes for you, PRETTY BOY!" she replied angrily, stomping down the Uber Tunnel and muttering about her efforts to be kind being wasted on deaf ears.

Sighing, Kouji muttered, "Sorry, Kira," to himself before following Kira down the tunnel to be "debriefed." (snicker snicker)

—

_"Hi Kouji!" The girl was waving at a boy walking toward the school. It was obvious that she was elated to see him, but he paid her no attention and walked past her without a word._

_She sighed, her hopes dashed. Ever since she'd met this boy, she'd felt the overwhelming urge to get to know him better. He didn't have, or seem to want to have, any friends. But she could see how lonely he was, and she knew that if he had just one friend, maybe he wouldn't be so lonely. Plus, he was kind of cute._

_But she'd failed miserably, just like she did everything else. He hadn't even greeted her, even though they'd talked all throughout lunch yesterday. She must have annoyed him somehow, or done something to get him angry…_

_"I'm sorry." The girl looked up, and there he was, staring guiltily at his feet. "I guess I just…I didn't…" She watched him struggle to come up with a good excuse for having ignored her a moment before._

_He didn't need to, though. She understood that he was scared of making friends, for whatever reason. Perhaps he'd been hurt in the past. It didn't matter to her, however. She was just glad that he was actually willing to give her a chance._

_She beamed at him, saying cheerily, "Let's start over, okay? Hi Kouji!"_

_Kouji hesitated before replying, "Hi Seiko."_

_"Wait…what is this? Who's Kouji?"_

—

Kouichi took another calm breath, eyes shut tight. He had to make sure he was completely calm before he came back into the presence of the others. Particularly Kouji. In fact, especially Kouji.

"Are you okay now?" Kouichi opened his eyes slowly and flicked his gaze to the right where, miraculously, Zoe was standing. It was miraculous because, when Kouichi had told her what had really happened to him several days ago, he'd expected her to start avoiding him out of fear. But she'd done the complete opposite.

He nodded, smiling slightly. "I'm still among the sane, despite Nina's best efforts."

Zoe scowled at the mention of Nina. "That Nina girl," she muttered, hands balling into fists. "I mean, what kind of name is 'Nina,' anyway? Hardly threatening, in my opinion." (The next villain I make up is gonna be named Deathy McKiller…)

Kouichi shrugged. "She's darkness. She can name herself whatever she wants, I guess."

"Sure," Zoe huffed, expression softening as she stared at Kouichi. "So you're really okay?"

_If your definition of okay is barely hanging on to myself by a thread, then yeah._ Kouichi took another deep breath, dispelling this thought. Then he simply replied, "Yeah."

"Thank goodness," Zoe said, embracing Kouichi tightly.

Kouichi wound his arms around Zoe tentatively, much more concerned than he'd let Zoe know. He'd nearly slipped up this time. He could still hear Nina's gloating, that's how close she'd been to taking him over. The pain had been almost unbearable. But all these things combined couldn't scare him as much as the fact that, for one second, he hadn't cared. He'd wanted it to be over with, just to get rid of the agony. Not even the fact that he'd be forced to kill Kouji had mattered…

Suddenly, Kouichi grabbed Zoe by the arms and pressed his lips firmly against hers. He could feel her tense up in confusion, then relax and kiss him back.

_Yes._ He had to remind himself why he was fighting against Nina. It was because he wanted this. His friends, his family, Zoe, everything. It was worth the pain. He would bare it, because if he didn't, everything he loved would be gone.

—

_The girl skipped down the sidewalk, humming to herself. She'd never thought of running errands as a chore, especially when the sun was shining down warmly on her. She smiled to herself, thinking that nothing could make this day better._

_Then she saw a person turn a corner ahead of her. It was a boy with dark hair and blue eyes…_

_"Kouji!" Her day had just gotten better. She rushed at the boy and wrapped her arms around him in a hug. "Wow, this is great meeting you here randomly! I thought you were away visiting relatives this weekend! Now maybe we can hang out…"_

_"Um, hi there." The girl's head snapped up, and she quickly let go of the boy. That hadn't been Kouji's voice. This boy wasn't Kouji._

_But she quickly realized why she'd made the mistake. This boy looked exactly the same as Kouji. He was identical to Kouji in nearly every single way, as if he were his twin or clone or something. But Kouji didn't have a twin or clone, as far as she knew._

_"Who are you?" she asked the boy curiously._

_"Wh-what?" he stammered, confused. "Could I maybe ask who you are first? And why did you hug me? And…who's Kouji?"_

_"He's a boy I mistook you for," she replied simply, still giving him a quizzical look._

_"Okay," the boy said, accepting this answer. "Well, my name is Kouichi. That's close to Kouji, I guess."_

_The girl nodded, still staring at Kouichi curiously. Feeling uncomfortable, Kouichi said, "Well, sorry to disappoint you. I guess I'll be on my way."_

_"Hold on," the girl said, stopping Kouichi's departure. She turned to him and asked, "What's your last name?"_

_Kouichi was confused by the question, but replied, "It's Kimura. Why?"_

_"No reason," the girl muttered to herself. This sure was a crazy coincidence. Kouji's mother's maiden name had been Kimura. "Thank you, Kouichi."_

_"Sure," he said, turning and continuing down the street._

_The girl watched his departure, then shrugged and continued on her way._

_"What's going on? Who are all these people?" _

—

"Okay, I found pretty boy napping," Kira declared, entering the meeting cavern with Kouji on her heels. "Chief and Zee said to go on without them, so take it away, Gotsumon," she added, taking a seat on the ground next to Takuya.

"Alright," Gotsumon began, starting the "debriefing." (I love this word a little too much.) "What did you guys do to get into the Rose Morning Star last time?"

Takuya, Kouji, JP, and Tommy glanced at each other. "Uh, you mean, how'd we 'sneak in'?" Takuya asked, making air quotes.

"Well duh!" Witchmon said exasperatedly.

"What else would you do to attack an enemy base? Walk through the front door?" Dragramon added sarcastically.

"Kinda," JP muttered sheepishly.

The others all turned slowly to stare quizzically at JP. "What the hell are you talking about?" Witchmon asked.

"Well, you see, last time, we kind of…walked right up to the front door," Takuya explained, realizing as he said it how stupid it sounded.

"But when we got to the door these mini grim reaper things came out of nowhere and attacked us!" JP said enthusiastically, trying to save face.

"Yeah!" Takuya agreed. "And they had these crystal thingies that they trapped us in until Kouichi went all bad-ass ninja on them!"

"Then we walked through the door and ran up this long-ass flight of stairs," JP continued. "Then we were in this creepy room filled with mini staircases and swirly colors."

"Don't forget the creepy claw things that tried to grab us!" Tommy added, joining the explanation.

"Yeah!" Takuya nodded. "Then this goat came out of nowhere and rang a bell and the claws went away and Patamon sat on the goat's head and we followed the goat to this really really bright room and in the middle of the room was Ophanimon and she gave us a history lesson."

"Then Cherubimon showed up and kicked our asses into next week, but we don't need to get into that," JP added.

Everyone else in the cavern merely stared in shock and bewilderment at the four boys, confused by their story.

Finally, Kira said, "So, what the hell were you guys smoking when all this happened?"

"Hey!" JP and Takuya exclaimed, insulted.

"As stupid as it sounded coming out of their mouths, all of that actually did happen," Kouji said with a sigh. "Do you want me to explain it again?"

"No, let's just move on," Gotsumon said, head in hands. "Witchmon, would you like to explain the plan to them while I take an aspirin."

"Digimon have aspirin?" Dai pondered while Witchmon nodded, setting a sheet of paper in the middle of the group. The group stared at the paper which was, in fact, a map of the Rose Morning Star.

"Alright," Witchmon began.

"Wait, I have a question!" Tommy said, raising his hand.

Witchmon sighed heavily. "What's your question, Tommy?"

"What's with those squiggly lines on top of the Rose Morning Star?" Tommy asked, pointing at what appeared to be a very poorly drawn stick-person standing atop the structure.

Witchmon examined it for several seconds. "Hey Dragra, do you have any clue what this is?"

"Not really," Dragramon replied, scratching her head thoughtfully with a claw.

"It was supposed to be Ilsemon," Gotsumon said flatly, gulping down some water after having taken an aspirin (which Digimon apparently have).

"Wait, you drew that?" Tommy asked, glancing guiltily at Gotsumon.

"Yes," Gotsumon replied stiffly, looking slightly insulted.

"Uh, good…nice…oh forget it, you suck at drawing, Gotsumon," Dragramon said, trying and failing to be nice about it.

"Well I think it's a great drawing," Witchmon declared, smiling at Gotsumon.

Gotsumon's eyes widened. "Really?"

"Yup," Witchmon nodded. _Yes! He's finally gonna notice that I've been hitting on him and dropping hints for months! That skull of his can't be that thick!_

"Well I'm glad that SOMEONE appreciates my talent!" Gotsumon said, glaring at the rest of the group. "You guys just don't know a quality stick figure when you see one!"

The others glanced warily at Witchmon, whose eye was twitching in disbelief.

"Uh, I think I'll take over explaining the plan for Witchy," Dragramon said quickly, slowly pushing Witchmon farther away from the circle as Witchmon muttered to herself about Gotsumon's head "being even thicker than a freaking rock."

"Okay, here's the deal," Dragramon began, pointing out a particular spot on the map marked by a big black "x." "This is the location of that secret way into the RMS that Kouichi showed us. It turns out that you can pass right through a small section of the wall, which is probably a glitch."

"The Digital World has glitches? Like a computer program?" JP asked.

"Yup," Dragramon replied. "Wait, what exactly is a computer program?"

"Nothing," JP muttered. _Likelihood that the Digital World is an out-of-control computer program: 89.95%._

"Anyway," Dragramon continued, "this glitch is useful and all, but the problem is it's right smack-dab at the front of the RMS." The others saw Dragramon's point as they stared at the map, noticing the "x's" position.

"Kouichi wouldn't have needed to worry about that back then," Takuya muttered thoughtfully.

"And why would that be, Taki?" Kira asked accusingly, glaring at Takuya. Dai and Hotaru glanced curiously between Takuya and Kira, also wondering what Takuya's statement had meant.

"Uh…" Takuya turned to JP with a "help me" expression on his face.

"So…how are we getting into the RMS with the secret entrance in plain sight?" JP asked Dragramon, quickly changing the subject.

"That, my friend, is where you come in," Dragramon said, pointing at JP.

"What do you mean by that?" JP asked slowly, beginning to get nervous. "And since when were we friends? You've barely talked to me."

"All trivial details," Dragramon muttered, waving off JP's comments. "Anyway, what I mean is that we need somebody to distract whoever's guarding the front entrance so that the rest of us can sneak into the RMS unseen. The one performing this task needs to have some sort of random inane skill and needs to be able to take out the guards if necessary. You fit both those qualifications. Congratulations!"

"What random inane skill are you talking about?" JP asked, still wary of his assignment.

"We heard you do magic tricks," Gotsumon explained. "We figured, depending on the guards' intelligence levels, that you'd be able to keep them occupied with a few tricks."

"Well, I have wanted to try out some tricks on people other than you guys," JP mused, glancing at the rest of the gang. "Alright, I'm in."

"Oh, I have a question!" Dai suddenly exclaimed, raising his hand.

"Why does everyone feel the need to raise their hand today," Dragramon muttered to herself. "What's your question, Dai?"

"Can I be your assistant, JP?" Dai asked, turning to JP with big, pleading, puppy-dog eyes. "I'm good at distracting people!"

"Uh, sure," JP agreed, glancing briefly at Hotaru for approval.

Hotaru nodded, thinking, _This is probably better for him, anyway. He won't be in the thick of the action._

"Alright, that's settled," Dragramon said, preparing to move on.

"Wait," Kouji said suddenly. "Won't JP and Dai be defeating the purpose by distracting the guards? I mean, the guards will instantly know who they are because they don't look like Digimon, but if they use their Spirits, that ruins the plan too."

"That's why they'll be wearing cloaks!" Witchmon announced, rejoining the conversation. "Courtesy of me, of course!"

"Does that mean they're gonna have holes in them?" JP asked.

"Take what you can get," Witchmon muttered, glaring at JP.

"Okay," Gotsumon said, getting back on topic. "While those two provide a distraction, the rest of us will sneak quickly and quietly through the glitch-hole-thing…"

"Glitch-hole-thing?" Takuya muttered, smirking.

As a retort, Gotsumon grabbed Takuya's goggles, pulled them out as far as they would go, and let them snap back, hitting Takuya's forehead with enough force to knock him backwards.

"ANYWAY," Gotsumon continued, ignoring Takuya's complaints, "we, as in the rest of you Legendary Warriors, myself, and another Digimon that you'll be meeting later, are going to search the RMS until we find Masumon. We'll start in the basement, because we believe that's where the dungeons are."

"So basically you're saying that the success of this mission falls entirely on our shoulders?" Kira asked, clarifying.

"Well, we didn't want to take a big group, but we needed Digimon who could handle themselves so yeah, pretty much," Witchmon replied.

Kira nodded. "Well, then let's go save Masumon!"

"Wait, don't go yet, we're here!" Zoe and Kouichi suddenly burst into the cavern, breathing heavily as if they'd been running.

"Sorry we're late," Zoe apologized, looking sheepish. "There was just…something we needed to take care of."

The rest of the group smirked and started nudging each other, thinking that Zoe meant that she and Kouichi had been "taking care" of something. But Kouji knew the truth.

_They have no clue what kind of hell Kouichi's being put through,_ he thought, staring at his brother from the corner of his eye. _But I do._

"So, what's the plan?" Zoe asked, taking a seat next to Takuya. Kouichi sat beside her.

"You guys explain the plan to these two," Gotsumon said, getting up and heading toward the exit. "I have to make sure the other Digimon going with us is ready to head out."

"Alright," Takuya nodded, then turned to Zoe and Kouichi. "So, check out the 'x' on this map of the RMS."

"What's the little squiggly thing at the top?" Kouichi asked curiously.

"Don't go there," JP muttered, glancing at an annoyed Witchmon.

"Okay, here's the plan…" The rest of the gang began to explain the strategy to Zoe and Kouichi while Kouji watched from as far away as the cavern would allow.

_I can't do this,_ he thought miserably. _I can't talk to anyone about anything anymore. _

Kouji glanced up at Kouichi. _That's it. After this little rescue mission, I'm telling him everything, and I can only hope that he doesn't completely flip shit about my knowing what's happening to him._

Kouji's eyes burned with concern and he quickly lowered his gaze so that no one would see. _You should've told me from the beginning, Kouichi. I could never be ashamed of you no matter what you become, because beneath it all, you're still my brother. Just…let me back in the loop. Please._

—

_The girl walked slowly through the temple, passing grave after grave. The sky was gray with clouds and mist seemed to seep up from the very ground, threatening to choke the girl._

_She glanced left and right, lost and afraid. She didn't know why she was here or what this place was, but she was all alone._

_Then, as she made her slow way down the line of graves, she saw a figure standing in front of a grave a few feet ahead her, head downturned. "Hey there!" she exclaimed, rushing toward the figure. The person didn't respond, still staring at the grave._

_The girl stopped when she reached the person, realizing that she'd seen him before. The blue bandana should have been a dead giveaway. "Hello?" she said, waving a hand curiously in front of his face._

_He still didn't respond, continuing to stare despondently at the grave. The girl noticed that his clothes were all black, and the pain and sadness in his eyes clearly showed that he was mourning someone. Probably the one in the grave before him._

_The girl's expression softened. "Kouji?" she said, remembering the boy's name._

_Kouji's eyes widened in surprise as he turned his head slowly to stare at the girl. Then he smirked. "So you actually know who I am this time? What a change of pace."_

_The girl flinched slightly as Kouji reached out to touch one of the small wings on her back. "They're soft," he muttered to himself. He then noticed the confusion in the girl's eyes. "You don't really remember me, do you?"_

_She shook her head, feeling slightly wary of Kouji. "I'm sorry," she mumbled, seeing the disappointment that flashed in Kouji's eyes._

_"You shouldn't be," Kouji said quietly, glancing back at the grave. "This is your reward."_

_"My reward?" The girl cocked her head, confused by Kouji's statement._

_"You were always so happy and full of life," Kouji continued, unaware of the girl's question. "And I took that away from you." Kouji's eyes clouded with pain as he stared guiltily at his feet. "I should've died instead."_

_"No," the girl said, grabbing Kouji's hands firmly to get his full attention. "I don't really know what happened, but I'm sure it wasn't your fault! Please don't blame yourself, okay?"_

_Kouji stared wide-eyed at the girl for a moment before replying, "But I killed you, Seiko."_

_"Seiko?" The girl took a step back, wondering why he'd called her that._

_Kouji smiled, eyes tearing up. "This is your reward. You don't have to remember how I ruined your life. You can forget everything, like I wish I could."_

_"Kouji," the girl began._

_"No!" Kouji snapped, turning away from her. "Don't use my name! Just forget it! I don't want you to remember!"_

_"What am I forgetting?" she asked, curious now. "Kouji…"_

_"Stop!" Kouji shouted without turning around, arms shaking. "Just forget me! Let it go! All I did was cause your death!"_

_"Kouji, I'm not dead!" the girl exclaimed, fearful now._

_"Shut up!" Kouji yelled, sinking to his knees in front of the grave. "Don't try to make me feel better with lies. I'm nothing to you, anyway. Nothing at all…"_

_Mist suddenly began to wrap around the girl, shielding everything around her until there was nothing but empty white space. She felt blind and helpless and, once again, she was alone. So she called his name. _

_"Kouji!"_

—

"Kouji," Masumon muttered in her trance-like sleep. She'd been trapped in her own nightmare for hours now, and this name had come up several times.

That was why Wizardmon had summoned Ilsemon, for he'd recognized the Warrior of Light's name. Now Ilsemon stood above her sister, smiling devilishly.

"Poor sister," Ilsemon said, staring at Masumon's twitching form. "She's accidentally trapped herself in a nightmare just to get away from my torture. She never was very good at handling her powers."

"What are you going to do?" Wizardmon asked, glancing impassively at Masumon.

Ilsemon considered for a moment before replying, "I'll just leave her as she is for now. After all, she's doing my job for me."

Then Ilsemon got to her knees, leaned down, brushed away the hair from in front of Masumon's ear, and whispered, "Don't worry, princess. Your prince is on his way."

Ilsemon got to her feet after this, chuckled, and left the cell, followed by Wizardmon. "Now," she said, smiling darkly, "we prepare for the guests."

—

_madjack89:_ There's your new chapter! Happy?

_Kouichi:_ Not really.

_madjack89: _Heh, sorry Chief!

_Kouichi:_ _sigh_ I can't honestly say I'm not used to this sort of thing by now.

_Kouji:_ Hey, Madjack?

_madjack89:_ Yeah?

_Kouji:_ Is the new character you were going on about supposed to be Masumon?

_madjack89:_ Sort of…

_Kouji:_ What? That's a yes or no question!

_madjack89:_ Alright, yes…and no.

_Kouji: twitches_

_Shino:_ Next time, we'll find out what the hell Madjack is talking about with this yes and no thing.

_madjack89:_ Indeed we will, Shino! Till then, see ya!


	25. Ch 25: Infiltration

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 25: Infiltration **

_madjack89:_ Hey guys! If you were wondering, we had a very interesting Thanksgiving. We went to a Thanksgiving get-together at the Akatsuki base, hosted by the reviewer TobiGB!

_Kouji:_ Never again…

_madjack89:_ Aw, you know you had fun!

_Kouji:_ No I didn't. ESPECIALLY not with all the tension surrounding that stupid fight Itachi picked with Kouichi!

_Zoe:_ Well, he did win, at least.

_Kira: _Hell yeah he did! Kouichi pwned that Itachi guy!

_JP:_ Old red eyes was begging for mercy!

_Takuya:_ Chief is, without a doubt, the best Crispin Freeman-voiced character around!

_Kouichi:_ Oh god, don't say that. Next thing I know, Alucard will be coming after me.

_Takuya:_ Alucard's a vampire! Can't you just stake him or something?

_Kouichi:_ He's Alucard, Takuya.

_Takuya:_ True…

_Kouichi:_ Anyway, I didn't really beat Itachi on my own. I had help.

_Nina (in Kouichi's head): You're welcome, kitty!_

_Kouichi: _Get out of my head, Nina!

_Everyone else: stares at Kouichi like he's gone insane_

_Kouichi:_ So…gotten any more calls from Kisame, Kira?

_Kira:_ Yes, I have! I swear the shark man is stalking me!

_Takuya:_ You're not…interested in him, are you?

_Kira:_ Taki, are you jealous of a fish? Seriously?

_Takuya:_ Well, he's got a big sword…

_JP: _That could be taken the wrong way.

_madjack89:_ Stop being a pervert!

_JP: _Pervert…

_madjack89:_ I don't wanna hear it!

_Tommy:_ How could that be taken the wrong way? He does have a big sword.

_Everyone: _…

_madjack89:_ Review time!

-

_apapa155:_ Thanks for all the nice reviews and the treats! And happy Thanksgiving!

_61wisampa:_ Well, you're mostly right, but there is one BIG thing about Masumon that I'm about to reveal. Anyway, I'm glad that someone else agrees with me about this whole Jasper thing! He really is the best! (_Jasper: smirks_) Of course, I still like Edward and Jacob too, but Jasper! (lol) Alright, thanks for reviewing! Adios!

_garnettfox:_ Heh, sorry! But in all fairness, it was not MONTHS…just one month. I'm glad you like those three and I'll really try to update more, kay? Okay Shun, what do we say? (_Shun:_ Thanks for reviewing.) Good boy! I'm teaching him to be nice! (_Shun: sigh_)

_Aldamonburst:_ If you want fighting, just wait till the next arc…(_glances at Kouichi_) (_Kouichi:_ I really don't like the look you're giving me…) Hooray for Sora torture! (lol) Okay, thanks for reviewing!

_GoldenDragon326:_ (_Seiko:_ Glad to be here!) Yeah, Kouichi and Seiko met, but Chief just wrote it off and concluded that she was psycho! (_Kouichi:_ Yeah…kind of.) Witchmon's cloak has holes in it (though most Witchmon don't have holes in their cloaks), so JP was picking on her (though the cloaks she gave them do have some holes). I'll leave you to your ponderings, then! Thanks for the review!

_beybladeingninjaprincess:_ I'm sorry the update took so long, okay? And you can have Jacob as long as I get Jasper! (Hee hee!) Squishy can't be in every chapter, unfortunately. Thanks for reviewing!

_ladyaura12:_ Well Yin, if you enjoy Kouji torture, you have DEFINITELY come to the right story! (_Kouji:_ Yes you have. And I am NOT an idiot!) There there, pretty boy…Shino, apologize for smack talking Taylor! (_Shino:_ I'm sorry Taylor, though I doubt you're reading this unless you're a nerd like the rest of us.) Technically, you guys aren't nerds. You're just the objects of the rest of our nerdiness! (_Shino:_ True.) Alright, thanks for reviewing! (I'd go for Wolfsbane, btw! It sounds cool!)

_DigiBleach:_ Yeah, I'm an easily distracted person. Just ask my friends! (lol) (_Masumon:_ Thank you for your concern!) And thanks for reviewing!

_Rain621:_ Heh, sorry Shino! I kind of forgot you existed! (_Shino: glares at me_) Heh heh…anyway, thanks for the great review, and thank you for complimenting my writing! Comments like that always make me feel good!

_TobiGB: _Hey Kouichi! (_Kouichi:_ What?) You don't have to worry about Itachi anymore! (_Kouichi:_ I kind of already figured that out, but thanks for telling me!) You're welcome! Alright, thanks for the review and of course I'd like to join your club, especially since Kyon's in it! Yay! (_Kyon:_ Are you obsessed with me?) Kind of! (_Kyon:_ …Wow.)

-

_madjack89:_ Okay guys, time to go save Masumon! Ready?

_Shino:_ That depends. Do I get any lines in this chapter?

_madjack89: smacks Shino_

_Shino:_ Ow!

_madjack89:_ Ready, set, go! (It's time to run!)

_Dai:_ Hey, my character theme!

—

"Ready, you two?" Gotsumon whispered to JP and Dai, who nodded determinedly.

While they stepped out from the cover of the trees, the rest of the gang, plus Gotsumon and the additional Digimon member of the squad, Gaomon, watched warily to see whether their plan would work or not.

"What the hell kind of things are those guarding the RMS?" Kira asked Gaomon, whom she was hiding behind a tree with. "They look like ogres."

"Ogremon, actually," Gaomon clarified, boxing gloves raised in case the guards needed to be taken out.

Kira smirked. "You Digimon are a literal lot, aren't you?"

"So, you think they'll pass as Digimon?" Shino asked, staring nervously at JP and Dai's advance toward the guards.

"Well, we gave them cloaks and painted something on their faces," Takuya replied, shrugging.

Shino glanced at Takuya. "You drew smiley faces on their cheeks. I don't think that's very Digimon-like."

"That's why I told JP to tell the guards that he and Dai are Smileymon," Takuya explained, looking proud of himself for coming up with the name.

Shino, along with Kouji and Hotaru, who weren't far from the two, gave Takuya skeptical looks. "Honestly, Takuya? Smileymon?" Kouji said flatly.

"You guys just watch," Takuya said, confidence brimming. "Those Ogremon won't suspect a thing!"

As the others continued to have whispered conversations amongst themselves (which they probably shouldn't be doing because they're trying NOT to be discovered), JP and Dai walked slowly toward the two menacing-looking guards.

_Oh crap, we're gonna die!_ JP thought, trying to keep a straight face as they came closer and closer to the Ogremon. _One swipe from those bone clubs could easily take us out before we can even grab for our D-Tectors! We are so screwed!_

Dai was having very different thoughts._ This is so exciting! We're like secret agents disguising themselves to fool the enemy! And those guards are so cool! I wonder what those clubs are made of? They look almost like femurs! Awesome!_

One of the Ogremon suddenly spotted JP and Dai and gave his fellow guard a nudge. Then they began to glare at the two approaching figures, raising their clubs.

JP still kept a straight face, though he had paled significantly. Dai just continued to grin broadly, oblivious to (or choosing to ignore) the danger that he and JP faced.

When they were about a femur-length away from the guards, the Ogremon concurrently lowered their clubs, missing JP and Dai by a hair-length. JP began to tremble as he stared wide-eyed at the guards, while Dai smiled cordially and said "Hello! How are you today?"

The Ogremon glanced at each other, slightly perplexed by Dai's behavior. Then one said, "State your business or we'll be forced to mangle you so horribly that not even your Fractal Code will be able to put itself back together."

_Shit! We are going to DIE!_ JP thought this, but still managed to say in a shaky voice, "Anybody want to see a card trick?"

"Card…trick?" The two guards gave JP simultaneous looks of confusion.

"Yup!" Dai said, nodding vigorously. "We're a couple of traveling magicians and were wondering if you'd like to see some tricks! We won't charge you or anything!"

The two Ogremon turned for a moment, discussing something. Then they turned back around and said, "Very well. We will observe your so-called 'magic.'"

"Alright!" Dai turned to JP. "Take it away!"

_I love you, Dai,_ JP thought, grateful that Dai was able to keep his cool against nearly anything. "Okay, let's begin," he said, grabbing some cards from his pocket with one hand. The other hand was behind his back, giving the others the thumbs up sign.

"That's the signal!" Gotsumon hissed, shutting everyone up. "Go!"

While the Ogremon were poring over JP's cards, the others quickly and quietly ran one at a time through the glitch in the wall until they were all safely inside the RMS.

"Wow, that was easier than last time," Takuya muttered, glancing at Kouichi. "Chief didn't even have to save us with his ninja skills."

Everyone directed their attention toward Kouichi momentarily, expecting him to react to or even rebuke Takuya's statement. Instead, he was staring at his feet with a blank look on his face.

The others gave him concerned looks while Zoe shook his shoulders gently. "Kouichi," she said softly, causing him to jump. He glanced at Zoe, then realized that everyone was staring at him.

"Um, sorry, I guess I spaced out. Did you guys say something?" Kouichi asked, forcing a sheepish smile to try to fool the others.

They weren't convinced, though. "Chief, are you alright?" Kira asked.

"You've been acting a little weird lately," Takuya added.

"Ever since that last encounter with Duskmon," Hotaru muttered, putting everyone's thoughts into words.

Kouichi flinched slightly at Hotaru's statement. _Do they know the truth?_ he wondered fearfully. _No…no, they couldn't. They wouldn't have let me come on this mission if they knew. They'd have left me back in the tunnels to protect me…leaving the entire Resistance unguarded if I lost control and went on a rampage._

Kouichi closed his eyes, dispelling this thought. _Alright, I have to tell them something, but what?_

"Kouichi's been feeling a little off ever since his fight with Duskmon." Kouichi turned quickly to his left, staring wide-eyed at Zoe. Was she really going to tell them the truth?

"But it's really nothing to worry about," Zoe continued, glancing at Kouichi. "He just didn't want you guys to worry about him."

Kouichi relaxed, smiling slightly at Zoe. How could he have thought for one second that she'd betray his confidence? He then turned to face the others and said, "I'm sorry I've been worrying you guys over nothing."

"Hey, no biggie, Chief," Kira said. "We're just glad you're okay."

The others nodded in agreement. Then Gotsumon said, "Alright, let's split up and search until we find Masumon's cell."

"Sure is dark," Takuya muttered, noticing for the first time that he could barely make out his surroundings. The gang appeared to be standing in a hall of some sort. The walls were made of stone and there seemed to be light coming from either side of the tunnel-like hallway, though it scarcely managed to illuminate the part they were in. "Hey Kouji, think you could use that Light Saber of yours as a flashlight?" Takuya said, glancing to his left and expecting to see an annoyed Kouji. Instead, he saw nothing.

"Kouji?" Takuya scanned the group and realized that Kouji was no longer among them. "Guys, I think we have a problem."

—

Kouji took the first turn out of the hall, sprinting down an identical hallway lit every few feet by lamp-like structures built into the wall. He knew that he didn't have to run anymore, that no one had noticed him leave, and that he could stop. But he was so shaken up that he ran to the end of the hall and turned left, then finally came to a halt.

He leaned heavily against the wall, taking deep, trembling breaths. He shouldn't have left the others. It was a stupid move that could cost him his life. He was now alone in an enemy fortress with absolutely no back-up. He was lucky he'd lasted this long.

But…he hadn't been able to bear seeing Kouichi's pained expression when the others had been questioning him. Especially when Hotaru had mentioned Duskmon. That was when he'd backed away quietly and started to run down the hall. And Kouichi hadn't even noticed.

"Not that I wanted him to," Kouji muttered to himself, clutching his D-Tector tightly. "I'll find Masumon on my own, bring her back, and then I'll talk to Kouichi. If I don't, he'll…"

Kouji didn't want to finish this sentence, though one thing was becoming painfully clear to him. The more he distanced himself from his brother, the harder it got for Kouichi to resist the lure of darkness within him. If he continued to stray away from Kouichi, his brother would be lost. Forever.

"I won't lose him," Kouji said to himself, finding strength in his resolve. "Not again."

Feeling determined, he Spirit Evolved into Lobomon so that he'd be ready if he were attacked. Then he ran down the hall, not realizing that Renamon followed not far behind.

—

"I just love that now we have to look for Masumon AND Kouji," Takuya muttered sarcastically, walking down one of the basement's many halls with Kira and Hotaru.

"Well, that's pretty boy for you," Kira said, shrugging. "A loner through and through."

"He wouldn't just run off without a good reason, though," Hotaru pointed out, holding his D-Tector at the ready and he glanced left and right.

"That's true," Takuya mused, remembering another time this had happened. The first time they'd been in the Dark Continent, Kouji had run off to find and confront Duskmon. He'd felt a strange connection to him that he hadn't bothered explaining to the rest of the gang before racing off.

"Why can't he just let us help him?" Takuya wondered, frowning. "When is he gonna realize that he can tell us his problems and we can help him figure things out?"

"Maybe he's afraid." Both Takuya and Kira stopped and stared at Hotaru, perplexed by his statement.

"Maybe he just doesn't want to bother us with his problems," Hotaru continued, fixing his gaze firmly ahead. "Or he thinks that we won't understand if he tells us."

Takuya and Kira considered what Hotaru said and realized that he might be right. There always seemed to be a part of Kouji that none of the others could understand. None but Kouichi, that is. If he confided anything with anyone, he always went to Kouichi first, then told the others.

Kira smirked at Hotaru. "Hey Taru, has anyone ever told you that you'd make a great shrink?"

Hotaru glanced at the ground, looking slightly embarrassed. "No."

Takuya and Kira chuckled, each grabbing one of Hotaru's arms. "C'mon Taru, let's go save the basket case," Takuya said while he and Kira dragged Hotaru further down the hall.

"In case you can't tell, he's referring to pretty boy," Kira clarified.

Hotaru smiled slightly. "I know."

—

"Okay Tommy," Gotsumon said quietly, back against the wall. "This mission depends on stealth. We have to have cunning, be utterly ruthless, and, above all, be very, very quiet. There is no guarantee what we'll find around any corner…"

"Uh, Gotsumon?" Tommy said, standing a little ways down the hall and staring down the turn at the end of it. "I think you should see this."

Gotsumon nodded, edging slowly along the wall. After about a minute of this, Tommy said, "You know, you can just walk over here."

"Fine," Gotsumon replied, sighing and trudging a last few feet to the end of the dark hallway. "I guess stealth doesn't matter…"

Gotsumon instantly stopped talking when he saw what Tommy had found. Lining the walls of the new hall were cells as far as the two could see, occupied by various Digimon, big and small, with all sorts of different physical characteristics.

Gotsumon turned to Tommy and said, "I think we found the dungeons."

—

Shino peeked around the corner, finding only another long, empty stretch of hallway. "Nothing here," he said, glancing back at Gaomon. "I'm really beginning to think that this is just a maze of halls constructed in case prisoners ever manage to escape," he added dejectedly.

"Then we'll just have to keep going until we either find Masumon or a way out," Gaomon said, leading the way down this new hall.

Shino followed, trying to concentrate on the mission at hand. But he couldn't keep his thoughts from drifting, no matter how hard he tried.

_I don't want to believe it_, he thought, for about the thousandth time trying to convince himself that the conclusion he'd formed a few days ago couldn't be true. But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. His feelings for Zoe were just an illusion. Smoke and mirrors. He'd never really loved her.

_After all, I told myself I'd never let this happen again._ Shino tensed involuntarily, remembering the last time he'd let himself fall for a girl. _I always go for the things I can't have. Mai's heart was never mine. All the times she told me she loved me…I was stupid enough to believe her!_

Shino squeezed his eyes shut, breathing slowly through his nose. He remembered all too well what would happen if he didn't keep a cap on his emotions. Wizardmon could easily infiltrate his mind in moments of emotional turmoil. Unfortunately, emotional turmoil for him usually meant being in Zoe's, or even Kouichi's, general vicinity. Plus, he was a teenager, which meant that he was already an emotional time bomb.

Shino sighed._ Hormones suck._

"Shino, why won't you tell the others that Wizardmon found his way into your mind a long time ago?"

Shino stopped abruptly, staring wide-eyed at Gaomon. "What?"

Gaomon turned and smirked at Shino. "I've been watching you since we split up from the others, and you really let your guard down when you're not around them. All your bottled-up emotion has been showing plainly on your face for the past ten minutes. And you proved my assumption of why you've been keeping things to yourself correct just now."

"No." Shino took a step back, glancing left and right frantically. He could try to run, but what good would that do? Gaomon would just tell the others, and more likely than not, he'd end up running straight into Ilsemon's clutches anyway. He was trapped. "I…I didn't…"

"Calm down," Gaomon said evenly, taking a slow step forward. "I'm not going to hurt you, and I won't tell your friends what's happening with you. That's an explanation you have to give them yourself."

Gaomon seemed to be telling the truth, so Shino relaxed, lowering his raised arms. "I'm sorry," he muttered, staring guiltily at his feet. "I didn't mean to keep it a secret. I was just…"

"Afraid?" Gaomon guessed.

Shino nodded slightly. "I don't know what to do."

Gaomon was about to reply, when his eyes suddenly grew wide. Then he fell face down onto the ground, and behind him stood his attacker.

"Sucks to be him, huh?" Wizardmon said, wand smoking.

—

"Hey, Zoe?" Kouichi said quietly, finally speaking up after several minutes of uncomfortable silence.

Despite the fact that he spoke softly so as not to scare her, Zoe jumped and whirled around, D-Tector raised. She quickly calmed down when she saw that it was still just Kouichi behind her.

"Sorry," Kouichi hastily apologized, taking a step back.

"No, it's fine. I'm just a little jumpy," Zoe said reassuringly, holding back the fact that, for a second, she'd thought that Duskmon was behind her. _Kouichi sounded just like him…stupid Crispin Freeman._ "So, what'd you want to say?"

"Well," Kouichi began hesitantly, "I just…first of all, thank you."

"Thank me?" Zoe gave Kouichi a questioning look. "Why do you need to thank me?"

Kouichi smirked. "You really have to ask that?" Zoe's indignant glare caused Kouichi to chuckle. When he caught his breath again, he said, "I just felt like I should thank you for…being you."

At first, Zoe seemed shocked. Then she smiled slowly, moved by what Kouichi had said. "You know, Kouichi, you really say the sweetest things sometimes."

"Yeah, maybe," he mumbled, blushing slightly. "Anyway," he continued, expression growing somber. "I'm beginning to think that I was…I made a mistake."

"What do you mean?" Zoe asked warily, preparing for bad news.

"About not telling anyone what's happening to me," Kouichi began, taking a deep breath. "I should've listened to you and told Kouji."

This surprised Zoe more than the earlier incident. "Really? You want to tell him?"

"I honestly don't see any alternative," Kouichi muttered, eyes downcast. "I mean, look at us. I don't need to have a bond with him to see that he's just as miserable as I am, possibly more so. And now he's running off by himself…he could get himself killed in here, and it would be my fault."

Zoe stared at Kouichi for a moment, realizing that he really intended to tell Kouji his secret and perhaps put an end to this whole mess. Feeling elated, she suddenly rushed up to Kouichi and embraced him tightly. "You don't know how happy this makes me!"

Kouichi's eyes widened in surprise. "Zoe," he began.

"Kouji will know how to fix this," Zoe continued, interrupting Kouichi. "He has to."

It was then that Kouichi realized how scared Zoe was, how worried she was for him. His fear had been realized. _From the very beginning, all I've done is make her worry…I'm killing her._

Kouichi was so preoccupied with his own thoughts that he didn't notice Duskmon standing before him, his raised sword reflecting the gleam in his eye as he prepared to kill two birds with one stone. So to speak.

—

"Damn it!" Lobomon cursed, finding yet another empty hallway stretched out around the corner. "How many halls does this basement have?"

Lobomon quickly surveyed the hall and realized that it didn't have any lights on the walls, so he raised his, that's right, Light Saber! Yay, the triumphant return! "Madjack, shut up," Lobomon muttered, eye twitching with annoyance. (Alright, but I'm still referring to your weapon as a Light Saber.)

"Whatever." Lobomon rolled his eyes as he crept cautiously down the dark hall, using his Light Saber as a flashlight. He continued in this manner for at least another five minutes before coming to the end of the hall, which turned out to be a solid stone wall.

"Damn," he muttered, realizing that he'd taken a dead end turn. He quickly pivoted back around, ready to go back the way he'd come and try a different hallway.

Before he got the chance, however, Renamon's glowing paw grabbed his arm. Lobomon realized too late that he needed to release himself from her grip, as he could feel his energy ebbing away. His Light Saber clattered to the floor and dissipated as data surrounded Lobomon and, in moments, Kouji stood were his alter ego had. He then sank to his knees, lacking the strength to stand. Just as he felt himself slipping into unconsciousness, though, Renamon released his arm, letting him fall to the floor.

This motion managed to bring him out of his dazed stupor and he pushed himself slowly and shakily back to his feet, using the wall for support. Then he glared at his attacker and said, "What's this about, Renamon? Are you kidnapping me, or are you going to kill me?"

Renamon scrutinized Kouji for a moment, then answered, "Neither."

Before Kouji could retort, Renamon continued, "I believe what you're searching for lies in there." She pointed toward the end of the hall and Kouji turned, wondering what Renamon was talking about.

He was surprised to find that the wall had opened up to reveal a secret chamber hidden at the end of the hall. He barely at time to register the fact that it was pitch black in the room when Renamon suddenly grabbed him by the collar of his jacket, lifted him up, and threw him into the darkness of the chamber.

He flew until he hit the far end of the alcove, falling to the ground with a thump. As he slowly regained his senses, the wall across from him closed, trapping him. Worse, trapping him in the dark.

"Greetings, Kouji Minamoto."

Kouji flinched, recognizing the voice he heard. He remembered the torture it had put him through, what it had convinced him to do, how he'd nearly killed his friends…

"Ilsemon." Kouji jumped to his feet, adrenaline taking over as he grabbed his D-Tector.

Kouji suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder, and he realized it had to be Ilsemon's. He could realize little else as he suddenly found himself on a street corner. He recognized it instantly as the one he always conjured up in his nightmares.

As if to confirm his thoughts, Kouji watched helplessly as Seiko rushed past him, headed toward a younger version of himself. He wanted to try to stop her, as he always did. But he was paralyzed, just as he had been all those months ago, when he been forced to see this so many times he thought he'd be able to keep his composure seeing it once more. He quickly understood that was impossible as he was forced, once again, to watch the girl he loved get hit by a truck, without being able to stop it.

Suddenly Kouji was back in the pitch-black cavern, eyes wet with tears. He felt Ilsemon lift her hand from his shoulder and he quickly shot his hand out into the darkness and, by chance, managed to grab her arm. After a moment of silence, Kouji growled softly, "Why did you make me witness that again? I thought your fun with me was over."

Ilsemon chuckled softly, in a way that made Kouji's skin crawl. Then she said, "My fun with you is just beginning."

With that, lights placed along the walls instantly lit up, allowing Kouji to get his first look at Ilsemon.

She was several inches taller than him with dark hair that fell to her shoulders. Her skin was relatively pale, made more noticeable by her black robe which fell all the way down to her bare feet. She was staring at Kouji's hand that still gripped her purple tattoo covered right arm.

"Please let go of my arm, Kouji," she said quietly, meeting Kouji's gaze with her own light blue one.

Kouji glared at her a moment longer, then released Ilsemon, not taking his eyes off her.

Her black wings twitched with amusement. "Well, since you seem to be in such a bad mood, perhaps we should just skip the pleasantries and get right to the point."

Kouji followed Ilsemon with his eyes as she strode across the small cavern, stopping in front of a blanket. There were bumps in the blanket, indicating that it was covering something up. "What are you doing?" Kouji asked, though it came out as more of a growl.

Ignoring his question, Ilsemon bend and grabbed the edge of the blanket, preparing to reveal the surprise it held under it. Before she did, however, she glanced at Kouji and said, "You know, this is a torture room, and the funny thing about torture rooms is that you're never quite the same after you've been in one."

Kouji's brow furrowed ever more. "You already tortured me."

Ilsemon smirked. "True," she muttered, adding, "Still, try to prepare yourself for what you're about to see."

"I can handle…" Kouji's sentence trailed off as Ilsemon lifted the blanket, revealing that the 'thing' under the blanket was a person. A girl, in fact.

Kouji didn't even blink as he stared at the girl, afraid that when he opened his eyes again, she'd be gone. For several minutes, all he did was stare. Then he finally found his voice.

"Seiko?"

—

_madjack89:_ Another suspense-filled chapter, wouldn't you say?

_Kouji:_ What…what just…

_madjack89:_ We'll find out the answer to THAT question next chapter, along with witnessing the fate of the rest of the gang!

_Kouji:_ You…she…was…why…

_madjack89:_ Will someone please take care of Kouji? I'm tired of listening to his monosyllabic babbling!


	26. Ch 26: All For You

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 26: All For You**

_madjack89:_ Hi everybody! Ready for the next chapter?

_Everyone:_ Yes!

_madjack89:_ I thought so, what with all those loose ends in the last chapter, particularly with Kouji!

_Zoe:_ Speaking of which, where is Kouji?

_Takuya:_ Madjack, what'd you do?

_madjack89:_ Calm down, pretty boy's fine. I just made him take the commentaries for this chapter off since he's still so shell-shocked from the last chapter.

_Shino:_ That's…surprisingly nice of you.

_madjack89:_ When are you guys going to realize that I am a great person?

_JP:_ When the bodies stop piling up.

_madjack89:_ Heh heh…so, time to answer some reviews!

-

_apapa155:_ Don't fret, more is on the way! And thanks again for the treats and for reviewing!

_DigiBleach:_ Yeah, crazy stuff, huh? Thanks for reviewing!

_61wisampa:_ Well, yeah, I do kind of love picking on the twins, but that's only because their so dang easy to pick on! However, I can promise you that I won't kill Kouichi again, because I can't pick on him if he's dead! (lol) Thanks for reviewing!

_Rain621:_ Yay, no more swine flu! I hope you had a good Christmas, because mine was great! I got sooooooooo many books! Yay! And I am just as surprised as you that I can find time to write this stuff. Anyway, Thanksgiving is a holiday celebrating the pilgrims traveling over to the New World and mooching food off of the Indians and all we basically do is get together with family, prepare food, and pig out! Yay! (lol) I'll try to stop forgetting my OCs in the future! And thanks for reviewing!

_Aldamonburst:_ Yes, I know I'm bad! Sorry you had to hear that, Kaito. Thanks for the review!

_hazeleyedharmony:_ Yay, someone figured it out! Victory cookie for you! (lol) Anyway, I DESPISE hormones! They suck! Aside from that, thanks for reviewing! (Darn you, Crispin Freeman! Why are you so darn talented?)

_ladyaura12:_ Yay, you figured it out too! Victory cookie! Yin can have one too! (_Kouji:_ Why the hell does Yin hate me so much?) No offense, but it's probably your personality. (_Kouji:_ …) Anyway, why is Chief always the bad guy? Itachi, Duskmon, that guy from Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children…I guess he just has an evil voice. (_Kouichi:_ …) Anyway, thanks for reviewing! (_Kira:_ We do rock, don't we Taru?) (_Hotaru: shrugs_)

_GoldenDragon326:_ JP would be a better Smileymon if he weren't so afraid of getting killed! (lol) Yay for triumphant returns! Thanks for reviewing!

_garnettfox:_ Unfortunately no. She's back at the base with Witchmon because Gotsumon thought they'd be too hyper for an espionage/rescue mission. (lol) Thanks for reviewing!

_TobiGB:_ Yay candy! Thank you L! And thank you for the review, GB! (And I may end up using that attack!)

_fg1fg:_ You really think this would make a good anime? Wow, that's really flattering! Thanks for reviewing! (I'll give Dai and Seiko each a point from you!)

-

_madjack89:_ Okay, let's get this show on the road!

—

He was happy. He couldn't help it. When he saw Seiko, not in a dream, but lying directly in front of him, he couldn't help but feel a thrill of joy. It didn't last, though, because soon logic kicked in.

_That can't be her. She's dead._ It hurt him, but he had to remind himself of this fact so he wouldn't be fooled by whatever trick Ilsemon was trying to pull. But it was hard. She looked so real, lying unconscious on the floor. She still had that delicate grace about her that always seemed to make her shine, almost like an angel.

That's when Kouji saw them. Small white wings jutting from her back, just like in his dream. This had to be a dream, in that case. Another stupid dream.

Unwillingly, he wrenched his gaze off of Seiko and turned to face Ilsemon, who stood patiently watching him. A small smile curled her lips.

He stared at her for a moment before saying, "What's going on?"

Ilsemon stared back at Kouji, still smiling. "You don't believe she's real, do you?"

Kouji glanced back at Seiko and, sure enough, she was still there, looking as real as ever. But she couldn't be. "Seiko is dead," he said quietly, jerking his head back toward Ilsemon. "She died saving me, so that can't be her."

Ilsemon chuckled. "Technically, you are correct. That is my sister, Masumon, lying in the corner. The one you've come to save."

Despite knowing that it was too good to be true, Kouji felt a pang of disappointment. Masumon looked so much like Seiko…

"But that is also Seiko." Kouji's eyes widened in confusion.

"What the hell are you talking about?" he asked skeptically. What Ilsemon said didn't make any sense. Masumon and Seiko couldn't be the same person. That would just be crazy, let alone impossible. "And don't even think about saying that they're twins, because we already did that crap…"

Suddenly Ilsemon pressed her finger firmly to his lips, shutting him up. "You're such a skeptic, aren't you?" she muttered, giving Kouji a slightly menacing look. "You can't bring yourself to believe anything…well, not without proof. Luckily, though, I have proof.

"I've been through her memories, back to the very core, witnessing things that not even she remembers. I'll show you how Masumon and Seiko came to share the same persona…now!"

With that, Kouji blacked out.

—

"Gaomon!" Shino quickly knelt down beside the fallen Digimon, assessing his injuries (like a doctor).

Though Gaomon's Fractal Code had initially flared up after Wizardmon's attack, it was beginning to disappear, indicating that he was in no immediate danger. However, he was still clearly in pain and, at the moment, unconscious.

"What're you doing here, comrade?" Wizardmon suddenly asked, startling Shino. He'd almost forgotten that he still had to deal with Wizardmon. Almost.

He jumped to his feet, D-Tector in hand. "I'm not your comrade," he growled, getting in a defensive position in front of Gaomon.

"Okay, Shino then," Wizardmon conceded, giving Shino a curious look. "But really, what the hell are you doing here?"

Shino hesitated, confused by Wizardmon's apparent surprise. Usually, Wizardmon seemed to know everything, especially concerning Shino. But he honestly didn't seem to know about their rescue mission, which was a bit…weird.

"Uh…we're here to rescue Masumon," Shino explained slowly. "You didn't know that?"

"We? As in, all you Warrior brats?" Wizardmon groaned, ignoring Shino's question. "I thought I was getting a day off! And I've still got this headache…"

Shino tensed, worried by this conversation. Wizardmon was acting odd, not at all like the jerk he usually was. It was unsettling, to say the least.

"Just forget it," Wizardmon muttered, clearly annoyed now. "Let's just take care of this guy here."

"You're not laying another finger on Gaomon," Shino said protectively, snapping back into action as he glared at Wizardmon. "Try and I'll kill you."

Wizardmon stared at Shino for a moment before sighing. "Shino, do you really think he'll keep our secret? He'll snitch to your little friends the first chance he gets."

"You're wrong." Shino said this, but he still wasn't sure of that himself. Gaomon seemed sincere, but could he really be trusted?

Wizardmon smirked. "Doubting yourself? How long have you known this guy, anyway? I've never seen him before. He won't be missed, and our secret will die with him."

_Yeah…no!_ Shino struggled with his own thoughts, trying to convince himself that Wizardmon was wrong. Murder was wrong. Lying to his friends was wrong…_don't think about that now!_

Wizardmon winced visibly while watching Shino's struggle, but Shino was too preoccupied to notice. However, Gaomon wasn't.

"The nature of the mark you placed on Shino," Gaomon began slowly, struggling to his feet.

"Don't try to stand," Shino cautioned, distracting himself from Wizardmon's influence. "I can handle him."

Gaomon glanced back at Shino. "I don't doubt that you will," he said, smiling. Shino was a bit surprised by Gaomon's confidence in him considering he was beginning to really doubt himself.

Gaomon whipped his head around, giving Wizardmon a cold look. "Are you causing this confusion?" he asked, gesturing at Shino.

Wizardmon glared at Gaomon but still replied, "In a way."

Shino's eyes narrowed. Wizardmon was obviously the culprit. He'd been screwing around with Shino since they'd first met, all those months ago. Why would he bother to hide the truth now, when everyone present already knew what he was doing?

Gaomon just smirked. "I thought that was the case." Then the Digimon glanced back at Shino and said, "He's not as high and mighty as he wants you to believe."

"What?" both Shino and Wizardmon said at the same time. Shino was perplexed, but Wizardmon actually seemed a bit uneasy of Gaomon's statement.

"It always seemed odd to me," Gaomon muttered, turning back to Wizardmon. "That mark supposedly gives you a bond with the person that you put it on, but it only works one way. You can affect Shino, but he can't affect you, nor can he stop you. That's not the way a bond normally works, you know?"

Wizardmon's eyes slowly narrowed. "What are you saying?"

"I'm saying that you're not giving Shino his amount of credit," Gaomon said firmly. In a quieter voice, he added, "He's started to affect you too, hasn't he? All that confusion and turmoil is slamming right into you, and you can't do a thing about it."

"You're wrong," Wizardmon said, though he didn't sound as confident as usual. "Why would I have marked him if it would be such a huge risk to me?"

Gaomon looked cocky now. "Because you didn't know it would have that effect."

Shino's eyes widened in surprise. Could that really be a possibility? Was Wizardmon's own plan backfiring on him? Were his negative emotions bothering, possibly hurting, Wizardmon?

Gaomon chuckled, watching Wizardmon take a small step back. "You shouldn't be flaunting your superiority. You should be afraid of Shino."

"That does it!" Suddenly, Shino found himself pinned against a wall, a gloved hand around his throat. He choked, trying to dislodge Wizardmon's hand from his throat with little success. Wizardmon just glared murderously at his "comrade," lifting his wand. "I'll show you, dog."

"Shino!" Gaomon's panicked face was the last thing Shino saw before Wizardmon's wand lit up the entire hall, blinding him.

—

"Look out!" Kouichi tackled Zoe to the ground just as Duskmon struck out with his sword, barely missing the two.

"Damn," Duskmon muttered, retracting his sword. "I thought you didn't see me."

"I happened to look up at the last second," Kouichi retorted, turning to face his attacker.

Zoe winced, anticipating the look of hatred that would surely darken Kouichi's features, not that she could blame him. She wasn't exactly a member of the Duskmon fan club herself, especially after what he'd done, both past and present. Even if Kouichi hadn't technically died, she was still losing him thanks to this Digimon.

_But he's only a puppet._ Despite what he'd done, Zoe still pitied Duskmon. All he'd ever wanted to do was live his life on his own terms. Unfortunately, the price for his wish always ended in slavery to another.

Zoe closed her eyes momentarily, reminding herself that Duskmon was an evil creature by nature. After all, he'd just tried to kill both her and Kouichi unprovoked. True, they'd snuck into Ilsemon's stronghold, but still…

"What are you doing, Duskmon?" Kouichi suddenly asked, snapping Zoe back to the present. Strangely, Kouichi seemed calm and had asked his question in a level voice. This was puzzling for, as Zoe well knew, Kouichi despised Duskmon. But, for whatever reason, he was holding himself back now. He'd even kept his D-Tector pocketed.

Duskmon seemed a bit surprised by Kouichi's reaction as well, but replied, "I tried to kill you. I'm evil, what would you expect?"

"Duskmon, I'm really not in the mood for your clever quips, so just tell me why Nina suddenly wants me dead," Kouichi said, still keeping expressionless.

"Hey, that's right!" Zoe exclaimed, understanding crossing her features. "If Nina wants Kouichi to join you, why would you kill him?"

Duskmon stared at the two before lowering his eyes. "For your information, I won't be joining Nina and Kouichi in their exploits," he muttered quietly, almost to himself. Then his eyes snapped back up and he continued, "And my reasons for killing you are my own. Nina's got nothing to do with it."

"What, are you…jealous of me?" Kouichi asked this skeptically, but Zoe could tell that he was truly wondering what Duskmon was thinking. A pissed off dual-sworded Digimon was the last thing they needed after them.

However, Kouichi's comment seemed to affect Duskmon more than he'd meant it to. Duskmon's eyes suddenly flashed with such blind fury that both Kouichi and Zoe hopped up and tensed to defend themselves.

Duskmon didn't attack, though. Instead, he chuckled. "It's always you, isn't it? You even get credit for my creation; my very existence stems from you. And she thinks it's freedom she's giving me. I'll never be free. I know that…"

Duskmon suddenly stopped, realizing that Kouichi and Zoe were giving him confused looks. "Forget it," he muttered. "You shouldn't be here anyway. I overheard Ilsemon saying she had plans for that brother of yours."

"Kouji?" Kouichi's eyes widened in fear. "What's she going to do to him?"

"Probably torture," Duskmon replied, shrugging. "If she's found him already, they'll be down that hallway to the right."

Without even considering that Duskmon might be lying, Kouichi rushed off down the indicated hall.

"Kouichi!" Zoe cried, running to catch up to him. She stopped mid-step, however, turned, and said, "Uh, thanks for the tip, Duskmon?"

Duskmon just glared at her. "Just leave before I decide to run this sword through your chest. You know, like before."

Eyes narrowing at Duskmon's words, Zoe turned around and continued to sprint down the hall after Kouichi.

Duskmon watched them disappear into the darkness. Then he muttered when they were well out of earshot, "Hurry."

—

"Hello?" Seiko called, glancing curiously around the empty white space she was suspended in. She didn't really know why she was here, or how she'd gotten to a place like this in the first place. The last thing she could remember was shoving Kouji out of the way of…

"Oh. That's it." The realization of what had happened to her didn't come as much of a shock, strangely. Perhaps it was because she could accept it without regret.

No, she did have one regret. "Kouji's alone now." His greatest fear had been losing the people he cared about, and she'd made it come true. "What have I done? He'll be so sad…but he'll be alive."

That gave Seiko back her resolve. She'd launch herself in front of a thousand trucks to save his life. He was too important to her to lose. She loved him with all her heart. Surely she'd fall to pieces if his light were ever extinguished.

"His light? How ironic." Seiko jumped, hearing a feminine voice behind her. She quickly turned and found that she was hovering in this strange, empty space.

"Neat," she muttered, staring down at her feet. "I'm like Casper or something."

"I don't know who Casper is, but you're a spirit, so floating is just one of the perks." Seiko's head shot back up as she remembered why she'd turned in the first place.

Floating in front of Seiko was a woman with long straight platinum blonde hair and hazel eyes similar to her own. She had on a strange outfit that looked almost like a toga, with Roman looking sandals to boot. However, not even the swirly blue tattoos running up the length of her left arm could captivate Seiko as much as the two small white wings jutting out of her back.

The woman noticed Seiko's fixed stare on her wings and ruffled them playfully, sending up a cloud of soft feathers and down. Seiko chuckled, feeling a bit more at ease by the person's presence. However, she still wondered…

"Are you…an angel?" Seiko asked tentatively. "Are you here to take me, you know, up there?"

The woman smirked. "I'm not a heavenly messenger, dear. I'm here for a different reason."

"But who are you?" Seiko asked curiously.

"That, my dear, is a long story," the woman said, eyes downcast. "I will, however, give you the short version. My name is Masumon, and I am what's known as a Digimon."

"Digimon," Seiko muttered to herself. Suddenly she gasped. "You're like Impmon and Wizardmon, aren't you?"

"That's correct," Masumon replied, nodding. "I see you haven't forgotten your two little friends."

"How could I?" Seiko said, smiling to herself. "They helped me get Kouji the perfect gift for Christmas…Kouji…"

The memory of her kiss with Kouji brought involuntary tears to Seiko's eyes and before she could stop herself, she was sobbing heavily into her hands. Masumon quickly wrapped Seiko into a tight hug, whispering, "There there, dear, it's okay."

"It's not okay," Seiko mumbled into Masumon's shoulder. "Kouji will never be able to live with himself. He'll think this is all his fault. And the worst part is that he's all alone now!"

"He's not alone," Masumon replied quietly.

"Yes, I know he has his dad and his step-mom, but he'll still feel abandoned by the one person who said they would never leave; me!" Seiko said, feeling the guilt build inside her.

Masumon let Seiko cry a moment longer, then said, "Seiko, Kouji has a bigger purpose in life than you or even he is aware of."

Seiko slipped out of Masumon's embrace, giving her a quizzical look. "What do you mean?"

"Seiko, Kouji is destined to become a Legendary Warrior," Masumon replied.

Seiko's gaze grew even more quizzical. "Is that like a cult or something? Is he gonna go join a Satan worshipping demon cult and get pumped full of illegal drugs to help heal his depression and sadness?! No Kouji, you can't! Just remember D.A.R.E.!"

"Seiko, it's not a cult," Masumon said gently.

"Oh," Seiko muttered. "Um, then what is it?"

Masumon smiled slightly. "Since you already know what Digimon are, let me give you a small history lesson."

Seiko listened attentively as Masumon related the story of the Legendary Warriors of the Digital World to her. _Wow,_ she thought to herself as the story unfolded. _All this time, there's been another world border lining ours, and we never even knew!_

"And so, the Legendary Warriors sacrificed themselves in order to seal my brother away in the very center of the Digital World, thereby restoring peace," Masumon concluded.

Seiko nodded slowly, soaking in all this new information. "Okay, but if the Legendary Warriors are dead, what does Kouji have to do with them?"

"Their spirits live on and are currently in the possession of the three Celestial Digimon ruling the Digital World, but…" Masumon paused, looking troubled. "Cherubimon is about to betray them."

"Betray them?" Seiko repeated, looking nervous. "What do you mean?"

Masumon glanced at Seiko, then down at her feet. "He'll destroy the Digital World in the process of freeing my brother."

"What?" Seiko exclaimed. "But the Legendary Warriors sealed him!"

"And if they can't stop Cherubimon, they'll have to seal him again," Masumon muttered.

"Wait," Seiko said, realizing something. "If the Legendary Warriors are only spirits now, how will they be able to fight?"

"That is where Kouji comes in," Masumon replied. "Along with nine others, though with Cherubimon holding five of the spirits, Ophanimon had better not send for all of them, especially not Kouji's brother."

"Kouji has a brother?!" Seiko cried, eyes widening in shock.

"A twin, actually," Masumon said, smirking. "I believe that you met him once."

"I never…Kouichi!" Seiko suddenly remembered the boy she'd run into on the street, the one she'd mistaken for Kouji. "But, he didn't know anything about Kouji, and as far as I know, Kouji doesn't know about him. Why is that?"

"You'll know the whole story soon enough," Masumon replied cryptically, continuing her explanation. "Anyway, Kouji, his brother, and eight other humans have been chosen to wield the spirits of the Legendary Warriors. They, in essence, will become those Digimon in order to restore peace to the Digital World."

"They'll become…Digimon?" The idea seemed crazy, but at the same time, Seiko felt like it was right, like Kouji's life had all been leading up to something like this. "Is it going to hurt them?"

"No," Masumon said, shaking her head. "In fact, their experiences could end up helping them in the end. For instance, Kouji won't be alone."

Seiko realized suddenly what Masumon had meant earlier when she'd said that Kouji wasn't alone. He'd soon have those other kids, along with his twin, as his comrades, maybe even his friends, if he'd let them. Seiko had a feeling that he would.

But while Seiko thought this, another thought popped into her head. "He'll get hurt, won't he?"

Masumon didn't answer for several seconds. Then she said, "Possibly."

Seiko's eyes widened in fear. "No, he can't! He can't get hurt! He…he can't die! I love him too much for that to happen!"

"You truly love him, don't you?" Masumon muttered, staring inquiringly at Seiko.

Seiko nodded, holding back more tears. "I don't want anything bad to happen to him, but now I can't help him anymore…"

"What if you could?" Masumon suddenly said, startling Seiko.

"But…I'm dead," Seiko muttered.

"As am I," Masumon said. "But, if you were to take my spirit and become one with it, you'd be able to return to life…as a Digimon."

Seiko eyes widened. "You mean, I'd be able to become a Digimon like Kouji?"

"Well, he'll be able to switch back and forth while you would literally become a Digimon," Masumon explained, lowering her eyes. "And there is a catch…"

"I don't care!" Seiko cried, interrupting Masumon. "As a Digimon, I'd be able to help Kouji more than I'd ever be able to as a human. And I'd be able to see him again…"

"Seiko," Masumon said, getting Seiko's attention back. "Besides becoming a Digimon, there would be another catch."

"What's the other catch?" Seiko asked, beginning to worry about the sad look on Masumon's face.

"I shouldn't be asking you this," Masumon muttered. "If you were to take my spirit, your memories of your human life would be replaced with mine. You wouldn't remember who you were, not even that you were human. And you wouldn't remember Kouji…"

"So, I'd become you?" Seiko asked slowly, eyes lowered.

"In a sense," Masumon replied. "You'd retain your personality, so you'd still be yourself, but…the price is just too high! I can't ask you to give up your life in favor of my resurrection!"

"Masumon," Seiko said quietly, placing a hand on Masumon's shoulder. "My life was over the moment that truck smashed into me. If I took your spirit, it's true that I wouldn't be able to remember Kouji, but I'd still be able to help him. That's all that matters to me now. So…I accept. I'll become you, for the good of the Digital World, the Legendary Warriors, and Kouji."

Masumon stared wide-eyed at Seiko for a moment. "You truly are a special girl," she muttered, smiling.

"Thank you, Masumon," Seiko replied, blushing slightly from the compliment. "So, how do we do this thingy?"

Masumon smirked. "Just take my hand and close your eyes."

Seiko did as instructed, slowly closing her eyes. _Here I come, Kouji. I'm still sorry for what I did, but it was for you. All for you…_

Suddenly a jolt coursed through Seiko that felt almost like lightning. Before she slipped from consciousness, though, one more thought flashed through her mind.

_Kouji…_

Kouji's eyes shot open as he was suddenly thrust back into his own body. He realized quickly that Ilsemon had let him witness Seiko's memories through Seiko's own eyes. He'd felt all her emotions, read all her thoughts. She really did love him with all her heart, enough to give up her memories for him.

"Seiko," he muttered, shaking slightly. He was slowly trying to process what had happened. Seiko had become Masumon…in exchange for all her memories. She'd given up her love for him…in order to protect him.

Kouji didn't realize he'd been walking slowly backward until his back hit the wall. He was cornered. Did it matter? Seiko was alive, but she wasn't. He had her, but he lost her.

"My power will sometimes have that effect," Ilsemon said, gradually approaching Kouji.

Kouji didn't notice, nor did he care. His legs were shaking so much that he fell to the ground, leaning heavily against the wall. His eyes were still open wide, unblinking, in shock. Seiko was Masumon. He'd been coming to rescue Seiko all along. But she wasn't Seiko…

"I believe that you need some time alone," Ilsemon muttered, smirking. As she headed toward the exit, she added, "By the way, feel free to take Masumon with you on your way out. She's fulfilled her purpose now."

Kouji barely noticed when Ilsemon opened the door in the wall, stepped out, and closed the door behind her. What he did notice was Masumon, no, Seiko, lying next to him, twitching as if having a bad dream.

He stared at her for the next minute or so, mustering up his courage. Then he slowly extended his arm and touched her shoulder lightly. "Masumon?" he rasped, surprised by how gruff his voice had gotten in the time he'd been sitting in the room. Clearing his throat, he tried again to wake the Digimon. "Masumon?"

Although his voice sounded clearer, Masumon still showed no signs of awakening. Kouji bit his lip, not knowing what to do. Then a thought came to him. Masumon was, in fact, someone else. "Seiko?"

Masumon's eyes blinked open so abruptly that Kouji literally fell backward, hitting his head off the floor. Ignoring the ache in the back of his head, he quickly sat up, watching as Masumon wearily rubbed her eyes and yawned. He flinched slightly when her gaze suddenly shot up to him. However, he still managed to say, "Are you alright?"

Masumon gave Kouji a calculating look before muttering, "Kouji?"

—

_madjack89:_ Hey guys, I've already had my first fall of the new year!

_Takuya:_ Already? It's only been 2010 for three days!

_madjack89:_ I know! But here's the ironic part about it. I fell down some stairs.

_Kouichi:_ …

_madjack89:_ You can laugh, Kouichi.

_Kouichi:_ …Ha ha…

_Dai:_ Are you okay, Madjack?

_madjack89:_ Dai, you get a cookie for being the first one to ask that.

_Dai:_ Yay! _gobbles cookie_

_JP:_ Well Madjack, are you okay?

_madjack89:_ Brown-nosing will get you nowhere, JP.

_JP:_ I wasn't trying to brown-nose…

_madjack89:_ Yes, everyone, I am okay. No broken bones or comas or anything. It's not like I had an epic slow motion fall like Chief, after all.

_Kouichi: sigh_

_madjack89:_ I just kind of slipped and slid down the stairs, which wouldn't have been that bad if they weren't hardwood stairs.

_Kira:_ Ouch.

_madjack89:_ Yeah, I got a couple bruises out of it, but other than that, I'm fine! Nothing to worry about!

_Takuya:_ So how many more times can we expect you to fall this year?

_madjack89:_ With all this ice we've had in my neighborhood lately, it's hard to say.

_Zoe:_ Both you and Kouichi have horrible luck, don't you?

_madjack89: nod_

_Kouichi:_ I have horrible luck with everything else, too…

_madjack89:_ Alright, see you guys in the next super duper awesome chapter! By the way, I hope you had a merry Christmas and have a great New Year! And try not to fall down any stairs, because comas aren't cool!

_Kouichi: sigh_


	27. Ch 27: Caught

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 27: Caught**

_madjack89:_ And now it's time for Madjack's Random Rambling Corner!

_Shino:_ What happened to chapter 27 of F2R?

_madjack89:_ We'll get to that momentarily. First, I need to ramble a little about something that occurred to me the other day that has to do with episode 16 of Digimon Frontier.

_JP:_ Ah, the "girl power" episode.

_Zoe: sigh_ What about it?

_madjack89:_ Well, in the episode you guys are going after the Toucanmon that you stupidly allowed to steal your D-Tectors.

_Kouji:_ Not my fault.

_Tommy:_ Hi Kouji! Are you okay now?

_Kouji:_ Yeah, I'm fine. Besides, Madjack gave me another slushie.

_Takuya:_ What is it with you and slushies?

_Kouji: _I like slushies. Is there anything wrong with that?

_madjack89:_ Guys, shut up and let me talk!

_Takuya and Kouji:_ Sorry.

_madjack89:_ Good boys! Anyway, the Toucanmon fly over to the island adjacent to the one you're on and you can't simply swim over to it because of the whirlpools. So, what do you do? You build a boat. Thinking about this, I wondered why you didn't just get Zoe to Spirit Evolve and fly over to the island, intercept the Toucanmon, retrieve your D-Tectors, and fly back with them. You could even have flown all the Gomamon over to the other island, and heck, Zoe being around those whirlpools so much might just have gotten her Beast Spirit to fly up into her D-Tector on its own. Then again, I think you have to be on the brink of death to get your Beast Spirit…

_Takuya:_ Well…the boat seemed like the best plan at the time…

_madjack89:_ The best plan? It took you another whole freakin' episode to get your D-Tectors back when you could've gotten them back in that one!

_Kouji:_ Ranamon could have showed up at any time.

_madjack89:_ All the more reason not to be in a rickety old home-made boat in the middle of the ocean with the WARRIOR OF WATER lurking about! Haven't you ever seen Jaws?!

_JP:_ But…

_madjack89:_ PLUS, your plan completely failed! The Toucanmon were long gone by the time you got to the island! So all I have to say is…what the heck, guys?

_Takuya, Kouji, and JP:_ …

_Zoe:_ Well, she does make a valid point.

_Tommy:_ And I couldn't swim back then, so I could easily have drowned.

_Kira:_ Ha, you guys are idiots!

_madjack89:_ Yeah, they are! Alright, time for some reviews!

-

_GoldenDragon326:_ They are cute, aren't they? Thanks for reviewing! (BTW, how'd you make that little heart? It's awesome!)

_DigiBleach:_ Hi, uh, Bleachy? (I don't know!) Hey Dusky, you're getting a big hug! (_Duskmon:_ Uh…no thanks.) DO IT! (_Duskmon:_ Fine. _holds out arms_) Now hold that position until I get this chapter out! (_Duskmon:_ I'll be stuck like this for the next month or so…) Shut up! Okay, thanks for reviewing!

_hazeleyedharmony:_ Shino torture, mua ha ha! Making people like Dusky, mua ha ha! Seiko might just be taking happy pills…or is that Dai…MUA HA HA! (lol) No, I did not go to the Digital World when I fell, so it wasn't even worth it! Oh well, thanks for reviewing!

_beybladeingninjaprincess:_ (_Nina:_ Hooray, a friend!) Good for you, Nina. Anyway, I don't think Squishy will get THAT emotional…for a little while yet. (_Duskmon:_ …What?) Thanks for the congrats, and thanks for the review!

_Aldamonburst:_ Yeah, I gotta mix a couple good things in with the bad things, or Kouji really will go insane! (lol) Aw, poor you! I actually did that same thing while trying to catch up to my friend but, once again, I didn't really hurt myself and merely slid down a couple stairs. I get really lucky when I fall! Anyway, thanks for reviewing! (And Sora, you're a weirdo.)

_garnettfox:_ Yay snow! Isn't it glorious? (lol) I'm glad you liked the explanation, and thanks for reviewing!

_61wisampa:_ If he hasn't gone mental by this point, I doubt I can drive the boy insane. (lol) Thanks for reviewing!

_apapa155:_ Aw, sorry you're grounded! Yay gifts! Guys, what do we say? (_Everyone:_ Thanks for the gifts!) Good job! And Eva, if you feel sorry for Dusky NOW, I suggest that you prepare yourself for chapters to come…anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_fg1fg:_ I tend to avoid ice thanks to my slight balance issues! It was Masumon that called him Kouji. That'll be explained shortly. Anyway, I must travel to Japan and track down an anime producer and force them to read my crap! (lol) Alright, thanks for reviewing!

-

_madjack89:_ Hey Kouji, guess what?

_Kouji:_ What?

_madjack89:_ A reviewer requested that you answer their review, so hop to it!

-

_13wolfsbane:_ You know what? I'm not even gonna bother arguing. Okay, let's see…oh god, no wonder I have to answer this. It's partially from Yin. Alright, let's get this over with. Uh…yeah, I didn't expect it either. Bottom line: Madjack is evil. I don't even feel like asking why you hate me right now, Yin. I'm too pissed, anyway. But I do have one question. How am I a back-stabber? I never double crossed anybody I liked, after all. (Just wait, Minamoto.) Oh, go away, Madjack! Alright, thank YOU for reviewing, 13wolfsbane. As for you, Yin, I know how to use a dictionary myself, you violent, destructive, crazy…

-

_madjack89:_ Okay, let us get to some super-dee-duper F2Rness!

—

"We're the suckiest rescue party ever, aren't we?" Kira muttered sarcastically. "Whoa, déjà vu."

"We don't seem to be very successful, that's for sure," Hotaru agreed, finally relaxing after being tensed up for the last twenty minutes. "All the halls we've been down are empty."

"Maybe the others are having better luck," Takuya said, glancing at his D-Tector. "But they said they'd contact us if they found Masumon or if anything bad happens…and I'm kind of worried about Tommy."

"Oh, it'll be fine, Taki," Kira said, smiling reassuringly. "Tommy can handle himself."

"I know that," Takuya replied, glancing down. "But it just seems that every time we get separated, something bad happens, and he doesn't have any of us to help him. I guess I just worry too much about him, especially since he's younger than the rest of us."

Instead of a more sympathetic response, Kira chuckled. "Taki, you sound like a mom!" she stated, laughing even harder.

Takuya chuckled slightly too. "Yeah, but if I'm the mom, you're the dad."

"I think I suit the dad role better, anyway," Kira said, calming down slightly. "I'm more manly than girly when you get right down to it."

"Oh, I think you're plenty girly," Takuya replied only half-jokingly.

"Well, you would know, wouldn't you?" Kira retorted, smirking.

Suddenly, Kira and Takuya remembered that there was someone else with them. They both turned to Hotaru, who looked extremely uncomfortable despite trying to look nonchalant. This gave the two a mischievous idea.

"Taru, have you ever liked a girl?" Takuya asked.

Hotaru jumped, caught off guard by the unexpected question. "Have I what?"

"You know, have you ever had a crush on a girl?" Kira clarified, smiling deviously. "Or even a guy, if you roll that way."

"Why the sudden interest?" Hotaru asked slowly, giving the other two a bewildered look.

"Well, you seemed uncomfortable with our flirting, kind of like when Zoe and Chief flirt in front of Shino," Takuya explained. "Plus, we're insanely curious. So, do you have trouble with girls or what?"

"We promise we won't tell the others," Kira added with big, pleading puppy-dog eyes.

Hotaru sighed. "It's not that I have girl troubles, it's just that I've never really thought of girls that way. Besides, relationships are too complicated for me."

Takuya and Kira glanced at each other. "You have no idea."

—

"C'mon Tommy," Gotsumon said, tugging on Tommy's arm. "Let's check the cells for Masumon."

Tommy blinked, brought back to the present. "Yeah," he replied listlessly, following Gotsumon down the hallway. For a moment, he'd felt like someone was behind him, watching him. Someone he knew…

Tommy shook his head, concentrating back on searching the cells. He recalled Witchmon's description of Masumon: blonde hair, hazel eyes, "I can't believe she's lasted so long in a dungeon when she looks like jailbait!"

He wasn't really sure what jailbait was, but he could definitely find a hazel eyed, blonde haired, human type female Digimon. However, the only Digimon he saw in cell after cell were monster-like with claws, fangs, and the works.

But the thing about these Digimon weren't their various appearances. He was used to seeing claws and fangs at this point. What bothered him was how they glared at him and Gotsumon as they continued down the hallway. They didn't look at all happy to see them. It was like they didn't care anymore.

After at least ten minutes of this, Tommy finally said, "We have to do something about this."

Gotsumon turned, face expressionless. "What do you mean, Tommy?"

"I mean we have to free these captives," Tommy said more forcefully, gesturing at the cells lining the walls. "Look at them! We can't leave them like this!"

"Calm down," Gotsumon said quietly, glancing right and left. "I know how you feel, alright? The problem is, freeing all these prisoners isn't what this mission is about. We're looking specifically for one Digimon. No more, no less."

"But we can't leave them here to be tortured by Ilsemon," Tommy protested hotly.

"From the looks of it, they already have been," Gotsumon muttered. Then he added in a louder voice, "Think about this, Tommy. We only brought a small group with us for infiltration purposes. If we let all these Digimon out, we'd be alerting the entirety of the RMS's forces to our presence, and I don't care how pimp the Legendary Warriors are, we would still lose, and this mission would have been for nothing."

Tommy wanted to protest, but he knew that Gotsumon was right. They couldn't risk it. "Can we come back for them another time?" Tommy asked hopefully.

Gotsumon smirked. "Of course. Do you really think I'm that cruel?"

Tommy smiled, relieved. "Well, you were a lot like Kouji when we first met you."

Gotsumon put a hand to his chest, mocking pain. "My gosh Tommy, I didn't think you were capable of such spite!"

Tommy chuckled. "Hey, you two are both alright now, so it's okay!"

Gotsumon lowered his hand, smiling. "I'm glad we have your approval."

"You know Kouji?"

Both Tommy's and Gotsumon's heads turned sharply to the cell to their left. Sitting hunched over in a corner of the cell was the Digimon who had spoken. She was a plant-like Digimon with a large pink flower on her head, which had been lowered before. Now she was staring intently at Tommy and Gotsumon, waiting for a response to her question.

"Um, we know Kouji," Tommy replied tentatively.

"The real question is how do you know Kouji?" Gotsumon added, giving the Digimon a wary look.

The Digimon smirked. "He didn't tell you about me, did he? He really should share his thoughts with others more often." Then she grew serious again. "My name is Palmon, and I was Shamanmon's apprentice."

"Shamanmon?" Tommy said, surprised. "We were looking for Shamanmon a few weeks ago, but no one knew where he was."

Palmon glanced down, looking pained. Then she said softly, "That's because he's dead."

"What?!" Tommy exclaimed, shocked. "But that can't be! He's…he's Shamanmon!"

"Hallucimon impaled him. I saw it all," Palmon explained. "After killing Shamanmon, Hallucimon took me and brought me here because I have the same power as Shamanmon."

"No way…" Tommy couldn't believe that Shamanmon, with all his age and wisdom, was dead.

"Wait, did you say that you have the same power as Shamanmon?" Gotsumon asked.

Palmon nodded weakly. "I'm a fortune-teller by trade. However, I've never had visions like Shamanmon did, until the other day."

"What did the vision show you, Palmon?" Gotsumon asked gently this time, for he could tell that Palmon was pretty shaken up.

Palmon took a calming breath. Then she explained, "The Legendary Warriors cannot be allowed to confront Ilsemon. If they do…" Palmon stopped, shuddering.

"What'll happen?" Tommy asked, beginning to get nervous.

A tear escaped Palmon's eyes as she continued, "If they do, then all hope of preventing Lucemon's rebirth will be lost, and this time, he won't bother with the Digital World. He'll go straight to the human world…there was so much blood!"

"Thanks for sharing, Palmon." Tommy stiffened, recognizing the voice behind him. Both he and Gotsumon turned in time to see a black cat sprinting down the hallway. Before he disappeared around a corner, they heard him say to himself, "Time to sound the alarm."

—

Shino slowly opened his eyes. He quickly found that he could breath again, which gave him hope that perhaps Gaomon had been able to attack Wizardmon from behind and disarm him. His hope was short lived, though, because Wizardmon was still standing in front of him, glaring as he slowly lowered his wand.

"Why…?" Shino began, wondering what had happened. Wizardmon had released some sort of blast from his wand in order to hit Shino, but it didn't seem like anything had happened to him.

Then he noticed smoke curling up from the wall to his right. He turned his head slowly and, sure enough, there was a small charred dent in the wall next to him. He turned back to Wizardmon and said in a shocked voice, "You missed?!"

Shino couldn't gauge Wizardmon's expression thanks to the brim of his hat covering his eyes. "What the hell?" Shino stated, confused. Wizardmon wouldn't, no, couldn't miss at point blank range. So what had happened?

While Shino was preoccupied with his ponderings, he didn't notice Wizardmon's wand suddenly coming toward him again. By the time he did notice, it was already too late, for Wizardmon had poked him in the stomach.

Shino gave Wizardmon another confused look. That attack hadn't hurt, either. What in the world was Wizardmon…?

Suddenly, Shino's whole body began to tingle, as if all his limbs had fallen asleep at once. The only indication he had that he'd sunk to the ground was the fact that he was now staring at Wizardmon's torso. "What…what did you…?" Shino struggled to form words, for he quickly found that even his head felt numb.

Still hiding his eyes, Wizardmon said quietly, "Don't worry. The numbness should wear off in about ten minutes. That gives me just enough time to finish this dog off…while you watch helplessly."

Despite the lack of sensation in his face, Shino's eyes widened in fear. "No…" he managed to say feebly. "Don't…"

Wizardmon ignored him and approached Gaomon, who had already raised his boxing gloves defensively. "You'll find that I'm not so easily defeated," Gaomon said determinedly. "I've taken down bigger enemies than the likes of you."

"True as that is," Wizardmon muttered, wand sparking with electricity, "I got the first shot."

With that, lightning shot out at Gaomon from Wizardmon's wand. Gaomon dodged the blast with speed faster than Shino's eye could track. Before Wizardmon could react, Gaomon was behind him, spinning rapidly. "Double Backhand!" he cried, hitting Wizardmon with a dizzying flurry of punches.

Wizardmon dropped face-first to the ground, knocked unconscious by the attack. Gaomon began to relax, but quickly realized that Wizardmon's Fractal Code wasn't appearing. Suddenly, Wizardmon disappeared in a poof of smoke.

"Gaomon!" Shino yelled, growing less numb by the second. "Behind you!"

Gaomon was about to turn, but suddenly felt a wand at his back. "Gotcha, dog," Wizardmon growled.

"Since when did you have Shadow Clones?" Gaomon retorted, gesturing at the spot where the fake Wizardmon had landed. "Been hanging out with Naruto lately?"

"That's legitimately one of my attacks!" Wizardmon shouted, annoyed. "Just go watch episode 3 of Digimon Frontier if you don't believe me!"

"Whatever, Narutard," Gaomon goaded, smirking slightly. "Say, when all of this is over, let's all go to Ichiraku Ramen so you can inhale some ramen ninja-style."

"That does it, you dog bastard!" Wizardmon cried, unleashing a blast of fire from his wand and engulfing Gaomon in flame. (Fire Style: Fire Ball Jutsu!) "Shut up, Madjack!"

"Gaomon!" Shino screamed, trying desperately to move his legs, his arms, anything. _Please don't die, please, please, please just give me more time…_

The flames died off after a few seconds, revealing a badly burned Gaomon. "Take that dog," Wizardmon muttered triumphantly, shoving Gaomon to the ground.

Shino watched as Gaomon's Fractal Code flared up just as he hit the ground. He watched as Wizardmon stood over him and scanned his data, leaving nothing but a Digi-Egg. That was when Shino shut his eyes. He didn't want to see Wizardmon snuff out Gaomon's life. Forever.

_And I couldn't do anything about it!_ Hot tears formed in Shino's eyes, but he couldn't stop them from rolling down his cheeks. _I failed him…I failed the others…why do I always fail everyone?!_

_Shino, do you wanna play hopscotch with me?_

"Calm down, comrade." Shino's eyes shot open both from Wizardmon's statement and his sudden resurgence of repressed memory. However, he decided to concentrate on the more pressing matter, a.k.a. Wizardmon.

To Shino's slight relief, Wizardmon held Gaomon's light blue Digi-Egg in his hands. "So, you wanted to make sure I watched you kill Gaomon for good?" Shino asked, glaring at Wizardmon. "Fine then. Do it."

Instead of "doing it," or even making a witty retort, Wizardmon set the Digi-Egg down in front of Shino. While he was putting down the egg, Shino got a small glimpse under Wizardmon's carefully guarded eyes. Surprisingly, Shino saw…regret in Wizardmon's gaze.

After giving the Digi-Egg to Shino, Wizardmon began to walk slowly down the hall. Shino watched him, trying to figure out what to say. Finally, he settled on, "Thank you for sparing Gaomon, Wizardmon."

Wizardmon stopped briefly, not bothering to turn around as he replied, "You're welcome, comrade." Then he walked farther down the hall until he was lost from Shino's sight.

—

Hope surged in Kouji's chest, causing him to hold his breath in anticipation. Seiko wasn't supposed to remember anything about her human life, but she'd just said his name. Maybe he'd managed to jog her memory somehow…

"That's your name, right?"

Kouji sighed, letting his bated breath go. Of course she didn't remember him. That was just the price she'd paid. "Yeah," he replied, quickly standing and walking toward the far end of the room so she wouldn't see the pain in his eyes. "How'd you know my name?"

"Well," Masumon began, slowly sitting up, "this might sound a little weird, but I think I had a couple dreams about you."

"Really?" Kouji said, trying to sound interested.

Masumon nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah. I don't remember too much about them, but I definitely remember that your name is Kouji."

Kouji remained silent, taking his D-Tector from his pocket.

"Oh!" Masumon gasped, noticing the device. "You're one of the Legendary Warriors, aren't you?"

Kouji nodded once stiffly. "We came to rescue you. Just let me tell the others that I found you, then I'll break us out of here."

"Okay," Masumon replied, beginning to get shakily to her feet.

"Don't try to stand!" Kouji suddenly snapped, turning and giving Masumon a stern look. "You need to conserve your strength."

"But how do I get out of here if I can't run?" Masumon retorted.

"I can carry you," Kouji replied simply, continuing to fiddle with the buttons on his D-Tector. "You don't look that heavy."

It looked like Masumon wanted to protest, but knew it would be useless. Instead, she observed Kouji's button fiddling for a minute or so. Then she suddenly exclaimed, "Hey, I bet I can guess which Legendary Warrior you are!"

"Okay," Kouji said, trying to concentrate more on his D-Tector than on her so his mind wouldn't wander too much.

"I'd know that cold, standoffish demeanor anywhere," Masumon said, smirking. "You've got Lobomon's spirit, don't you?"

"Good job," Kouji muttered, narrowing his eyes. "God, this thing never works when we need it to."

"So, are all the Legendary Warriors down here with you?" Masumon asked curiously. "I wouldn't think the Resistance would put such a big group together just to rescue me."

"Maybe you're more important than you think," Kouji said quietly, lowering his D-Tector. "Alright, I'm busting us out of this damn room. Maybe I'll be able to contact everyone else outside."

"Okay," Masumon replied, wondering why Kouji had looked so sad when he'd said she was important. "Oh, and thank you for the compliment. I appreciate it!"

Kouji didn't reply, feeling his cool slipping more and more by the second. Then he faced the opposite wall, D-Tector raised. "Spir—"

Suddenly the door in the wall opened and Takuya landed flat on his back at Kouji's feet, hitting his head off the floor. "Oh, there ya are, buddy," Takuya slurred dizzily, noticing Kouji standing above him.

"Wow Taki, you pulled a Scooby Doo!" Kira exclaimed, stepping over her boyfriend into the chamber, followed by Hotaru. "And look who we found in the mystery room; pretty boy!"

Kouji sighed. "Let me guess: you took a break after searching for 'the last bigillion minutes' and Takuya leaned back against the wall, accidentally hitting some sort of secret rock and causing the door to open."

"I actually said trimillion," Kira muttered, helping a still slightly dazed Takuya to his feet.

"Looks like you found her," Hotaru suddenly stated, staring at Masumon sitting silently yet obviously curiously in the corner.

"Yeah," Kouji replied tersely, wishing he could put off this moment for a life time. "Masumon, these are three of the other Legendary Warriors. The tall one's Hotaru, the Yankee is Kira, and the goggle head is Takuya."

"Not a Yankee, pretty boy!" Kira growled, sticking her tongue out.

Kouji didn't pay attention to Kira's comment, however. He was too focused on Takuya's sudden calculated look as he stared at Masumon, as if he were pondering something.

Takuya cocked his head. "Why do you look so familiar…?"

Before Takuya could say more, a tone suddenly resounded throughout the room that sounded similar to the P.A. system in a school. Sure enough, after the tone, a pleasant female voice gave an announcement.

"Attention all residents of the Rose Morning Star. We have been infiltrated by a group of no less than ten powerful Digimon currently located in the basement. Intel has confirmed that at least several Legendary Warriors are among them. I repeat, the Legendary Warriors have infiltrated the basement of the Rose Morning Star. That is all. Have a nice slaughter!"

The announcement clicked off and there was silence for several moments.

Then Kira said, "Oh crap."

—

_madjack89:_ Lo and behold, it is finished! It's a little shorter than other chapters, admittedly, but DEAL WITH IT!

_Everyone:_ …

_JP:_ Hey, I just realized that me and Dai haven't been mentioned in a few chapters. What's going on with us?

_Dai:_ We're obviously putting on an award-winning performance!

_madjack89:_ I don't know about award-winning, Dai, but you guys are still distracting the guards, though that's a bit null and void now.

_JP:_ Yeah, about that…um, since that intercom thing just announced our presence in the RMS…uh, are Dai and I gonna get killed by those guards?

_madjack89:_ Of course not! You're in disguise, after all!

_Takuya:_ As Smileymon!

_Dai:_ Yay!

_JP:_ …Chief, when I die, have me cremated, then dump my ashes on Takuya's head.

_Kouichi:_ Okay.

_madjack89:_ Alright, see you in the next exciting chapter, where our heroes will have to beat a hasty retreat from the RMS before they're outnumbered and brutally killed!

_Shino:_ Wait, I still can't move! How am I gonna get out?!

_madjack89:_ Oh, that'll wear off in a minute or so.

_Shino:_ A Digimon could be slicing open my internal organs in a minute or so!

_madjack89:_ Oh yeah…sorry!

_Shino:_ …Kouichi, when I die—

_Kouichi:_ I know, dump them on Madjack's head.

_Shino:_ Thank you.

_madjack89:_ See ya later, guys! I gotta go play with my helicopter that L got me for Christmas!

_Kouji:_ Duck and cover, she's behind the controls of a large flying mechanism.

_madjack89:_ Mua ha ha!


	28. Ch 28: A Hasty Retreat

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 28: A Hasty Retreat**

_madjack89:_ Brrr, it's cold!

_Takuya:_ D-d-d-damn r-r-right it i-i-i-is!

_Kouji:_ Oh suck it up.

_Takuya:_ S-s-s-s-screw—

_Kira:_ Screw you, pretty boy!

_Takuya:_ T-t-t-thank y-y-you, K-k-k-kira.

_Kira:_ No problem. But damn, you're definitely right! It's cold!

_madjack89:_ I choose to blame Zoe for the recent cold weather!

_Zoe:_ What?! Why me?

_madjack89:_ Because it's mostly been cold because of the wind and you're the Warrior of Wind!

_Zoe:_ …That doesn't make sense! I can't control the weather!

_madjack89:_ Sure you can't.

_Kouichi:_ Madjack, just because our Spirits are connected to elements doesn't mean we can control them. I can't cause eclipses or blot out the sun or anything, and Zoe can't control the wind-chill factor.

_Zoe:_ Ha! What do you say to that?

_madjack89:_ …Sure you can't.

_Zoe:_ …Someone get me a stress ball. Now.

_madjack89:_ Review time!

-

_DigiBleach:_ Alright, Digi then! If I refer to you as Nina, it might get a bit confusing! (_Nina:_ Hee hee, Dusky's still stuck!) (_Duskmon:_ Please just hug me already.) Glad you liked the chapter, and thanks for reviewing!

_apapa155:_ Guys, no fighting and attacking random filler villains! I might get to the whole cruise ship thing, but I've been a little busy lately, so we'll see what happens! Alright, thanks for reviewing!

_shadica:_ No one has asked that yet, surprisingly. The answer, however, is no, it is merely a coincidence. I actually hadn't even heard of Death Note when I came up with her name! Alright, thanks for reviewing!

_13wolfsbane:_ Kouji, would you like to respond to Yin's ranting? (_Kouji: _Why yes I would. 1) Thanks for bringing THAT up! 2) And you're not? 3) Am not. 4) Do not. 5) Probably. 6) Are you talking about me or Takuya?) (_Takuya:_ Hey!) Well, I'm glad SOMEONE sees that I'm not evil! But about Kira's name, I didn't actually get it from Death Note. That was actually just a funny coincidence! I wouldn't name Kira after Light, anyway. He's too crazy. (_Light:_ …Jerk.) Sticks and stones, psychopath. Okay, thanks for reviewing! (_Kouichi: *reads Yin's comment at the end and sweatdrops*_)

_garnettfox:_ I'll slowly explain what's going on with Wizardmon, but for now just ignore it. Thanks for reviewing!

_GoldenDragon326:_ We do need more girls! Girl power! (_Kira:_ Wootness!) Thanks for teaching me how to make the little symbols! I went and taught my friend, too! Alright, thanks for reviewing!

_beybladeingninjaprincess:_ Heh, Tomoyo's in the human world, so I kind of just let her go to the wayside for a while. Sorry JP! (_JP:_ It's alright as long as nothing happens to her.) Oh, nothing will happen! Silly JP! (_JP: *raises eyebrow at me*_) Heh heh, so thanks for reviewing!

_Aldamonburst:_ *_wearing gas mask*_ Wow Kaito, you can do some damage, huh? Oh well, thanks for the review, Burst!

_fg1fg:_ Yeah, I actually really like Gaomon, so I didn't really want to do that, but it was necessary. And Hotaru's getting that girlfriend much later. Just be patient! Alright, thanks for reviewing!

_61wisampa:_ Don't worry, I didn't chop their heads off. I even gave Dai a couple lessons! (_Dai:_ Helicopter!) I'll explain why Taki recognizes Masumon soon, but you do make a valid point. What the heck, Taki? (_Takuya:_ I don't know, that's just how things keep working out.) Fair enough. Okay, thanks for reviewing!

_TobiGB: _Thanks for the stuff, GB! (_Tommy:_ Aw, what a cute puppy! Thank you!) Hey Pein, do you know Nagato or what? (_Pein: *shrugs*_) Oh, whatever. Well, thanks for reviewing, and I'll try to stop Wizardmon from copying you in the future, Naruto! Believe it! (Never said anything about ME not copying you…mua ha ha!)

_hazeleyedharmony:_ Thanks hazel! Don't worry, the chapter was short, so it warrants a short review! (lol)

-

_madjack89:_ Okay, while Zoe squeezes that stress ball while pretending it's my head, let's get this chapter rolling!

—

"Oh man, this isn't good!" Takuya exclaimed, glancing around quickly to make sure there weren't Digimon closing in on them already. "Alright, calm down…um…we gotta contact the others!"

"Good luck with that," Kouji said, sounding sort of emotionless. "I tried contacting you guys a minute ago and it wouldn't work."

Takuya, Kira, and Hotaru gave Kouji quizzical looks. "You okay, pretty boy?" Kira asked. "You seem kind of…dead."

"What do you mean?" Kouji said, still sounding as impassive as before.

"Well, you sound like someone just killed your puppy," Kira explained, staring hard at Kouji. "And your eyes look a little dull…"

"There isn't time to be worrying about me right now," Kouji said quietly but forcefully. "We need to concentrate on getting out of here alive. That's all that matters."

"Well…alright," Kira muttered, turning her attention toward Masumon. "So, you okay to run like hell out of here?"

"I can if I have to," Masumon replied determinedly.

Kira smirked. "I think I like this Digimon. Say Taki, what were you saying a second ago about recognizing her?"

Before Takuya could reply, Kouji quickly said, "I can Spirit Evolve and carry her. It'll be faster that way. The rest of you guys should Spirit Evolve too. Odds are we'll have to fight our way out of here."

The others still looked worried by Kouji's behavior but nonetheless followed his advice. Masumon's excitement was nearly contagious as she watched the four Spirit Evolve. "Wow! This is amazing! You're all here and alive and…"

Giddy with delight, Masumon had hopped to her feet and had quickly gotten dizzy, nearly causing her to fall back to the ground. In a heartbeat, though, Lobomon was at her side, gripping her arm to keep her on her feet. She glanced up at the Digimon, a small smile on her face. "Heh, I guess I got a little too excited. Thanks for catching me."

Feeling a fresh pang of pain course through him, Lobomon glanced quickly at his feet. "Just try to be more careful."

"Okay," Masumon replied slowly, suddenly seeing what the others had been talking about. Lobomon looked like he was holding something back. Some emotion…

Before she could deduce any more, Lobomon lifted her gently but quickly by the waist and draped her over his shoulder. "Uh…okay?" Masumon muttered, blushing slightly.

Ignoring her comment, Lobomon turned to the others, Light Saber already drawn. "Let's go."

—

"We have to get out of here. Now." Gotsumon turned and started to run back down the hallway. He stopped, however, when he noticed that Tommy wasn't following him. "Tommy, we have to go! Hurry!"

Tommy glanced between Gotsumon and Palmon, looking torn. "But what about Palmon?"

In response, Gotsumon turned to the cell beside him, cocked back his fist, and punched the bars with so much force that the ground shook slightly from the impact.

"Holy moly," Tommy muttered, staring wide eyed at Gotsumon. "I don't remember you being THAT strong!"

"What did you think I was doing for the past two years?" Gotsumon replied, smirking. His smirk fell when he noticed that not only were the bars still intact, his fist hadn't even made contact with them and instead had been stopped less than an inch from his target. "I thought so. There's a barrier around the cells."

"A barrier?" Tommy reached out to touch the bars of Palmon's cell and, sure enough, his hand made contact with a solid yet invisible surface just before reaching them.

"It's not that I don't want to get her out, Tommy," Gotsumon said softly, glancing at his feet. "It's that I can't."

Tommy nodded slowly, looking anguished. "Palmon…I'm sorry."

Palmon smiled faintly. "Don't go feeling sorry for the likes of me. For all you know, I could be deceiving you with a false prophesy just to keep you preoccupied."

"If that were true, why would you tell us your plan?" Tommy retorted. "I'm sorry if this seems naïve, but I believe you, especially since you mentioned Kouji and Shamanmon."

Palmon remained quiet for several seconds, eyes downcast. Then she muttered, "Before you leave, can you promise me something?"

"Of course," Tommy replied.

Palmon was silent for another moment before saying, "Tell Kouji that the path into light is the same as the one into darkness."

Tommy gave her a quizzical look. "Or just say that he should ask Zoe what Duskmon did to Kouichi specifically," Palmon added, smirking. "Now go."

"Alright," Tommy muttered, still not understanding Palmon's message. Nonetheless, he grabbed his D-Tector and Spirit Evolved. "Let's go, Gotsumon."

—

"Kouichi, wait up!" Zephyrmon called, sprinting to try to catch up with JagerLowemon. (I would just like to note here that I had to physically look up JagerLowemon's name because I could NOT for the life of me remember what it was! Alright, back to the angst!)

"I can't!" JagerLowemon snapped back, not giving Zephyrmon a second glance.

Zephyrmon flinched, feeling a bit hurt despite knowing that he wasn't trying to be mean to her. She didn't even have to see his face to discern his feelings. He was so scared for Kouji that his fright practically crackled in the air around him, and it had only gotten worse when they'd heard that announcement. They'd been caught, and after hearing Duskmon's clue, it didn't take a genius to figure out who'd given them away.

"Kouji…will be…fine," Zephyrmon huffed, still desperately trying to keep up with the faster Digimon. "Man, I wish…these walls…weren't so narrow…or I'd be able…to fly!"

JagerLowemon finally slowed down a bit, allowing Zephyrmon to catch up with him. "Thanks," Zephyrmon said, giving JagerLowemon a smile. When he didn't reply, she continued, "Kouichi, like I said, Kouji will be fine. After all, he's had to deal with Ilsemon before."

"Yeah, and look how well that turned out," JagerLowemon retorted bitterly, keeping his gaze fixed firmly ahead. "Now we have something else in common: we both almost killed Takuya!"

"Kouichi, that's all in the past!" Zephyrmon said firmly. In a gentler voice she added, "Kouji is going to be absolutely fine, just wait and see."

JagerLowemon lowered his head, not talking for several moments. Just as Zephyrmon was about to continue the conversation, he muttered, "I won't know…"

"What?" Zephyrmon asked, confused.

"I won't know if anything happens to him!" JagerLowemon suddenly yelled, coming to an abrupt stop. "Before this…before Nina happened, I would've known whether he was okay or not. I'd know! But now there's absolutely no way for me to be sure, and I hate it!"

Zephyrmon took a small step back, feeling completely horrible. Kouji and Kouichi had always had some innate sense (_Takuya:_ Freaky telekinetic twin powers.) that told them whether the other was alright. Now that bond was gone, and Zephyrmon realized that Kouichi was more afraid of the unknown than anything else. If Kouji really was hurt, he'd be devastated because he wouldn't even have known…

"Well, we'll never find out if we don't get going," Zephyrmon said with conviction, turning and continuing down the hall. A moment later, JagerLowemon caught up to her, still looking troubled.

Trying to change the subject, Zephyrmon said, "You handled Duskmon pretty well back there. I think this is the first time you've actually managed to keep your cool while HE freaks out."

JagerLowemon chuckled, secretly glad for the topic change. "Yeah, that was a small victory, if nothing else. But I can't help getting the feeling that it'll come back to bite me later."

—

"That's it, next time we infiltrate an evil base, we're leaving a trail of bread crumbs behind us!" Ranamon exclaimed, running down yet another identical hallway. "How the hell do we get out of here?"

"Maybe Kouji actually does know where he's going," Agunimon suggested, gesturing at Lobomon who had taken the lead with Masumon still slung over his shoulder.

"Bullshit!" Ranamon replied, glaring at Lobomon's back. "He's just as lost as the rest of us!"

"Maybe his freaky telekinetic twin powers are leading him toward Kouichi," Mercurymon suddenly said. The other two were momentarily silent.

Then Ranamon said, "Taru, do you really believe in Taki's theory, or are you being facetious?"

"Well, I've given it a little consideration and I thought that maybe they do have some sort of special link between them," Mercurymon muttered, glassy face turning slightly pink. "I mean, they can sense each other, so…"

Agunimon grinned slowly. "I knew someone would see the truth of my theory eventually, though I'm kind of surprised it was you, Hotaru!"

Mercurymon mumbled something inaudible while staring at the ground, blushing profusely with embarrassment.

While the other three discussed freaky telekinetic twin powers, Lobomon continued running, Light Saber raised. In reality, he had absolutely no clue where he was going. He was just going, desperately trying to keep his mind off the fact that Masumon, no, Seiko, was clinging on to his shoulder. She was so close, so incredibly close…

Lobomon tightened his grip on his weapon, fighting back his emotions. _I won't do it in front of her. I have to hold it back until I'm alone._

"Lobo—actually, you'd probably prefer Kouji, wouldn't you?" Masumon suddenly said, startling Lobomon slightly. He hadn't heard her voice in so long…

"You can call me whatever you want," Lobomon muttered.

Masumon smiled. "I'll just stick with Kouji. Anyway, I didn't want to say anything, but it's beginning to worry me."

"What?" Lobomon asked, tensing a bit.

"Well," Masumon began, sounding a little sheepish, "I don't want to pry into your feelings if you don't want me to, but…why do you look so upset?"

Lobomon kept his expression neutral as he said, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Kouji, you haven't given me a single glance since we left the torture chamber," Masumon retorted, worry creeping into her voice. "Did I…do something to upset you?"

_Yes, as a matter of fact. You loved me too much!_ "Of course not. I've just been keeping a sharp eye out for hostile Digimon. That's all."

"Oh, I see," Masumon muttered, not sounding completely convinced. "Well, will you promise to let me know if I'm ever bothering you? I tend to bother people sometimes with my questions."

_It's that questioning of yours that got us here in the first place!_ "I promise, but it really doesn't bother me."

"Okay, if you're sure," Masumon replied, smiling slightly. "I guess I worry too much about other people!"

_Damn right you do!_ "It's not like that's a bad trait to have."

"I suppose," Masumon said, staring curiously at the three Digimon following them. "What do you think the other three are snickering about?"

"Probably teasing Hotaru again," Lobomon muttered, rolling his eyes.

Masumon giggled, startling Lobomon again. "Heh, you look kind of funny when you roll your eyes!"

_Hold it back._ Lobomon repeated this phrase over and over in his head, but it was getting way too hard. He wouldn't be able to hold it at this rate. She'd see…

Suddenly Lobomon ran right into a Digimon that had been coming around the corner, falling on top of it onto the ground.

"Kouichi, are yoOOF!" Zephyrmon cried, tripping over the pile of Digimon at the same time that Agunimon, Ranamon, and even Mercurymon joined the heap.

"Wow, this hallway sure is daARGH!" Suddenly both Gotsumon and Kumamon landed on the ever-growing mound, not having seen it until it was too late. (Ladies and gentlemen, the heroes of our story.)

"Well, isn't this convenient?" The members of the gang that weren't dazed out of their minds looked up at the Digimon who had spoken.

It was female with the body of a human and the wings and talons of a hawk. It was a Harpymon, its name coming from its striking resemblance to a harpy. The worst part, however, was the triumphant gleam in its eye. "Looks like I just got very, very lucky. The Legendary Warriors all piled up at my claws."

The gang tried desperately to untangle themselves from each other as Harpymon raised her wings, grinning victoriously. "Wind Seek—"

"Falcon Punch!" Suddenly a fist hit Harpymon square in the face, knocking her back at least three feet. She landed in a crumpled heap on the ground, unmoving.

The others turned slowly as the fist retracted itself until it was reattached to Arbormon's arm. "Looks like I delivered the knick of time save today," he said, looking smug. "I even threw in a reference."

"Thank god for Arbormon's retractable arms!" Ranamon exclaimed, relieved. "Alright, whoever's foot is stuck up my ass had better unstick it fast!"

"Hey, it's Masumon!" Gotsumon cried suddenly, coming face to face with her in the pile.

"Hi Gotsumon," Masumon greeted him with a smile. "Thanks for the rescue effort. You sure know how to make a girl feel…"

Masumon's sentence trailed off as the pile began to quickly disperse and she got her first glimpse of JagerLowemon. Her eyes got progressively wider as she stared at him in what could easily be interpreted as horror.

JagerLowemon flinched, feeling uncomfortable. "Uh, hi…wait." Suddenly his eyes grew wider as well as he got a better look at Masumon. "You look like…Sei—"

"Are you alright?" Lobomon asked abruptly, blocking Masumon from JagerLowemon's view and vice versa. "You didn't get hurt, did you?" he continued to probe, glancing back at his brother once.

Masumon shook her head slowly, expression getting less horrified. "Yeah, I'm fine, but he…" Masumon tilted her head, glancing around Lobomon's shoulder at JagerLowemon. "I sense something about him…something dark."

Lobomon's expression darkened slightly. "Well, he's the Warrior of Darkness. That's kind of his element."

Masumon tried to sneak a glance around Lobomon again, but he quickly blocked her. So she poked her lower lip out, giving Lobomon a pouty look. "C'mon Kouji! You two are brothers, aren't you? I think there's something wrong with him!"

"Quiet!" Lobomon hissed, glancing back at his brother. "Nothing's wrong with him, okay? Just don't bring this up anymore."

Masumon wanted to protest but could see that Lobomon was completely adamant about this, so she complied. "Fine, I'll keep it to myself for now. But if this problem escalates, I'm stepping in."

"Fine," Lobomon replied tersely, giving his brother a quick "I'll explain why Masumon looks like Seiko later" look.

"Guys, c'mon!" Gotsumon suddenly yelled, motioning for the gang to follow him. "I know the way out!"

"You do?" Agunimon asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I'm pretty good with directions," Gotsumon explained, turning toward Arbormon. "Right, Gaomon?"

Gotsumon quickly realized that the Digimon he'd expected to be standing by Arbormon's side was missing. And clutched in Arbormon's hands was a light blue Digi-Egg.

"Oh," Gotsumon muttered, expression reserved. "I see."

"I'm sorry," Arbormon mumbled an apology, glancing guiltily at his feet. "I tried, but…I didn't mean for this to…"

"It's fine. He knew what he was getting into," Gotsumon stated quietly, cutting Arbormon off. "Let's just concentrate on getting out of here. We can discuss other things later. Now c'mon guys. Let's go."

With a more somber air than before, Gotsumon rushed down the hallway to their right, not waiting to make sure the others were following. The gang did begin to trail behind him, however, most of them looking piteously toward him. Lobomon once again opted to carry Masumon.

After running down a particularly long hallway, the gang came to a crossroads with tunnels branching off to either the left or right. "Go left," Gotsumon quickly ordered without breaking stride.

The others obliged and turned the corner to reveal, not an empty hallway, but a hallway filled with hostile Digimon, all glaring at them with wicked smiles on their faces.

"Uh, is there any chance that we can reason with you good Digimon?" Agunimon asked hopefully.

The Digimon glanced at each other, then back at the group. "Attack!"

"I think that's a no, Taki," Ranamon muttered.

—

"How do you do it?" the Ogremon exclaimed in awe, glancing between the playing card he held in his hand and the one JP was currently holding up. "You've guessed my card right 482 times now!"

"It's amazing!" the second Ogremon agreed. "You Smileymon are fantastic!"

"Why thank you!" Dai said with a big grin, bowing.

JP rolled his eyes at Dai. _I don't think even these idiots would have bought the whole Smileymon thing if it weren't for Dai's cheerfulness,_ he thought, turning back to the two guards. "Alright, who wants to see another trick?"

Suddenly a large, powerful gush of water slammed into the four, sending them flying. The water carried with it an assortment of different Digimon, all being swept by the current. When the swell died down, the gang, minus Dai and Hotaru but plus Gotsumon and Masumon, was standing in front of the RMS, wide-eyed.

Ranamon slowly opened her eyes, surveyed the damage, and cheered. "Hell yeah! Take that, bitches! You don't got nothin' on this! That's what you call a smack-down! Ha ha…yeah. Say, where're JP and Dai?"

"Uh, I think JP's over there," Arbormon said slowly, pointing to the gang's right. JP was sprawled out on the ground, knocked silly but otherwise okay.

"Dai's here too," Mercurymon added, already having retrieved Dai and currently holding him in his arms. "He'll be okay, he's just a little dazed."

"That…was…awesome," Dai muttered dizzily, giving Ranamon a thumbs-up.

"Good job, Kira," Gotsumon quickly congratulated her, turning toward the forest. "Alright, let's get out of here before these flunkies (My brother loves this word…) wake up."

"Wait, who's carrying JP?" Agunimon asked, glancing at his rather…horizontally challenged friend.

"Hey, thanks for volunteering, Taki!" Ranamon said, hastily following Gotsumon's retreat into the forest.

"What?!" Agunimon exclaimed, panicked. "I can't carry him by myself!"

"Sure you can," Arbormon said, mocking reassurance as he followed Mercurymon away. "Use your muscles."

"I don't have muscles!" Agunimon cried. "Have you ever seen my arms? They're like sticks! I have stick arms!"

"It's not our fault you're so anorexic," Zephyrmon said with a smirk, leaving with JagerLowemon.

Desperate, Agunimon turned to Lobomon, smiling. "Hey buddy—"

"Not a chance," Lobomon replied, quickly leaving.

"Kouji, we should help him!" Masumon protested, staring guiltily at Agunimon.

"Takuya is like a stray animal," Lobomon explained. "If we help him now, he'll just keep coming back for favors."

Agunimon watched helplessly as his friends left him behind. "Perfect," he muttered, hanging his head dejectedly.

"Don't worry Takuya, I'll help you," Kumamon said reassuringly, glancing at JP. "Though I may need to Beast Spirit Evolve."

"Yeah," Agunimon muttered, heading toward his fallen friend. "JP is gonna owe me big-time for this."

—

_Later, back at the Resistance base…_

"Aw, c'mon Taki. You know you can't resist forgiveness chocolate!" JP waved a chocolate bar in front of Takuya's sullen face, trying to earn forgiveness through his friend's stomach.

Takuya swiped the bar from JP's hand, unwrapping part of it and taking a bite. "Fine, I'll forgive you. But the next time you make me and Tommy carry you five miles through the forest with enemy Digimon on our tail while you PRETEND TO BE KNOCKED OUT, I suggest you rethink your decision!"

JP grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Yeah, that wasn't very smart," he muttered. "But, on the plus side, the mission was a success and Masumon is safe and sound!"

"Thanks to mine and Shino's epic knick of time saves!" Kira added, draping her arm over Shino's shoulders. "We officially kick ass!"

"Yeah," Shino said, smiling faintly. "At least I managed to do something right today…"

"Hey!" Zoe scolded, jabbing Shino in the stomach with her finger. "I don't want to hear any more negativity out of you! What happened to Gaomon wasn't your fault! You did everything you could!"

Glancing at the ground, Shino muttered, "Alright, you win," while still clutching his stinging stomach. "Everyone's poking me there today…"

"Well, I for one agree with JP," Bokomon said, looking proud of the gang. "You all did a spectacular job retrieving Masumon!"

"Even though you got caught," Neemon added with a smile. Bokomon promptly snapped his waistband, looking annoyed.

"Speaking of Masumon," Kouichi began suddenly, "she looks a lot like…a person I've seen before."

"You too?" Takuya exclaimed, surprised. "She looks like someone I've seen before, too!"

"Really?" Kouichi asked, feeling just as surprised as Takuya. "I thought Kouji didn't show you guys her picture...you saw the picture on her grave."

"What?" Takuya cocked his head, confused. "What are you talking about a grave for?"

Before Kouichi could continue, Kouji entered the room, looking tired. "Hey Kouji," Zoe greeted him with a smile. "How's Masumon doing?"

"She's fine," Kouji said in a monotone. "I left when Witchmon and Dragramon came and started hugging her and squealing."

"They sure know how to drive you from a room," JP muttered, chuckling. Kouji didn't even glare at him, which was unsettling.

"Pretty boy, cut the silent emo act and just tell us what the hell's wrong with you already!" Kira demanded impatiently, not bothering with subtlety.

Kouji glanced at Kira. "That's what I came to do," he replied quietly, taking a deep breath before his next sentence.

"Guys…Masumon is Seiko."

—

_madjack89:_ What a chapter, huh? What a chapter…

_JP:_ Horizontally challenged?

_madjack89:_ Hey, give me some credit! I haven't even mentioned the subject of your weight until now!

_JP: _…Horizontally challenged?

_madjack89: *sigh*_ Anyway, I've got some poll results to announce!

_Dai:_ You mean from the poll on the readers' favorite OCs?

_madjack89:_ The very same!

_Dai:_ Yay! Who won, who won, who won, who won, who won, who won, who won…

_Kouji:_ Please tell him so he'll shut up.

_madjack89:_ Alright, the results of the poll are as follows: (1) Kira with 36% of the votes, (2) Dai and Seiko both with 22%, (3) Shino with 13%, and (4) Hotaru with 4%.

_Dai:_ Wow, second place! Yay! And congratulations, Kira!

_Kira:_ Thank you, no applause are needed…aw hell, yeah they are! Clap people, clap!

_Everyone: *claps*_

_madjack89:_ What I find surprising is that Seiko is so popular despite the fact that she was dead until a couple chapters ago. Oh well, Spike turned out to be a bigger character than expected too, and look how well that turned out!

_Dai:_ Can we have cake to celebrate Kira's victory?

_Shino:_ You just want cake, don't you?

_Dai: _…Maybe.

_madjack89:_ We can have cake, Dai. Taki, go fetch a cake from the store! _*throws helicopter keys to Takuya*_

_Takuya *catches keys*_ Uh, can't you just make a cake appear since you're the author? Besides, I can't drive a helicopter.

_madjack89:_ Fine, take Taru with you. Now go, Taki, go!

_Takuya: *sigh*_ We'll call you when we get shot down by the military.

_madjack89:_ Okay! Alright everybody, in the next chapter this Kouji/Masumon/Seiko arc shall conclude so we can get back to the Kouichi/Zoe/Nina/kitty arc!

_Kouichi: *sigh*_

_madjack89:_ See ya!


	29. Ch 29: Lullaby

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 29: Lullaby**

_madjack89:_ Hi guys, we got cake!

_Hotaru:_ Never put me in a helicopter with him again…

_madjack89:_ Well, at least you got back in one piece!

_Hotaru:_ And I thought Dai was hard to deal with sometimes…but he…

_Zoe:_ Just lie down and have some cake.

_Kira:_ Taki even got my favorite! Chocolate cake with strawberry icing! Thank you, Taki! *_pecks him on the cheek*_

_Takuya:_ Heh…_*blushes slightly*_

_Dai: *devouring cake*_ Yum!

_madjack89:_ Hey Kouji, get out of your emo corner and have some cake!

_Kouji:_ I don't want any…

_madjack89:_ C'mon Kouji, it's chooocooolaaaate!

_Kouji:_ No…

_madjack89:_ Fine, whatever. Let's just get to some reviews!

-

_apapa155:_ Hi Kouu! And of course you can stay with us for a couple chapters, Allen! We've always got room here! Thanks for reviewing, apapa-chan!

_61wisampa:_ Yeah, Kouji explained to the whole group about Seiko, but only Kouichi and Taki saw her picture (refer to chapters 17 and 18 of F2HF). Therefore, they were the only two that recognized her (other than Kouji)! (_Kira:_ Thank you very much, though I'm kind of surprised I beat Dai myself!) Alright, thanks for reviewing! And I do enjoys me some Kouichi torture! (_Kouichi: *sigh*_)

_fg1fg:_ Finally people see the genius of the phrase horizontally challenged! I've been saying it for years and no one understood! (lol) Thanks for reviewing, and thanks for the vote! (Mua ha ha…)

_garnettfox:_ Well, since his name is Japanese, it's pronounced Die-ki, making his nickname Die. A little trivia: Dai means "great" in Japanese, while Daiki means "big" or "shining." (I'm such a nerd.) Wow, sixteen words for 'the'? I love you, English! (lol) Alright, I hope I've thoroughly answered your question. Thanks for reviewing!

_GoldenDragon326:_ (_Seiko:_ I'm likeable?) Well, you got pretty boy to like you so yeah, I'd say you're pretty likeable! (_Seiko:_ Oh…well, thank you!) Taki had fun with the helicopter, but I'm not so sure about Hotaru…pobre Taru. Oh well, glad you liked the chapter! Thanks for reviewing!

_hazeleyedharmony:_ Yay! (lol)  
1st: Hey Kouji, want some cotton candy? (_Kouji:_ No…) How about a slushie? (_Kouji:_ No…) Wow, this IS serious!  
2nd: You've got a point there. I just like Kumamon cuz he's cute!  
3rd: …Wow, I just got a really bad mental image when you said she should have ridden JagerLowemon. (I'm so perverted!)  
4th: Yes, they are indeed screwed, especially with me writing the story! (lol)  
5th: Yeah, I gotta admit I did for a little bit, too! (_JP:_ *_glares*_) (_Dai:_ It's okay!) Heh heh, horizontally challenged. (_JP: *glares more*_)  
end: Oh crap, he's a gamer, isn't he…oops! No wonder Taru's so traumatized!  
The kitty thing is meant to be creepy, so that means it's working! (_Nina:_ Kitty!) (_Kouichi:_ How could I go about getting a restraining order on Darkness…?) Alright, thanks for reviewing!

_Aldamonburst:_ Naughty, naughty Night! *_smacks him*_ You don't deserve a beagle! Anyway, thanks for reviewing, Burst! (_Seiko:_ And thank you very much for the compliment!) (BTW, congratulations, you're the 300th reviewer! Yay!)

_13wolfsbane:_ Hey Kouji, want to reply to Yin's reply to your reply? (_Kouji:_ No…) But she's dissin' you again! (_Kouji:_ I don't care…) Wait…zomg, she said sorry to you! (_Kouji:_ Really?) Yeah! (_Kouji:_ Well…thanks.) Alright, well, I don't know why Taru didn't get more votes, but at least he got some votes! Right? (_Hotaru:_ Thanks for voting for me, by the way. That was nice of you.) Okay, thanks for the review!

_Crystal-Chan:_ If you like KoujixSeiko, you'll probably enjoy this chapter, particularly the last part! As for Seiko turning back into a human…we'll see. Alright, thanks for reviewing!

_Dawn of Glory:_ Uh-oh, someone finally noticed! Well, let me explain. You see, when I came up with this joke originally in F2HF, I accidentally put telekinetic when I'd meant to put telepathic. The words kind of just switched themselves around in my brain. By the time I'd realized my mistake, the name had stuck. However, since it's Taki's theory, I'll just blame it on his stupidity! (_Takuya:_ Hey!) Alright, thanks for reviewing!

-

_madjack89:_ Okay, now it's time for chapter 29! Wootness!

_**Disclaimer:**_** Well, since this is here I might as well say I don't own Digimon. The real reason I put this is because I don't own the song Masumon sings in the chapter. The song is "Lullaby for a Stormy Night" by Vienna Teng. It's a pretty song, if you're interested!**

—

"Wow," JP muttered, chuckling hollowly. "That…that just…"

"That just plain sucks," Kira cut in.

The others said nothing, giving Kouji mingled looks of shock and pity. Kouji was staring at his feet, shielding his eyes from view.

"Just thought you should know," he finally muttered, turning to leave.

"Kouji, wait." Kouji stopped but didn't turn at the sound of Takuya's voice.

Nevertheless, Takuya continued, "Don't you want to, you know, talk?"

There was a pause. Then Kouji replied, "What else is there to say?" With that, he left.

Another moment of silence followed. "We shouldn't leave him alone like this," Hotaru stated, breaking the silence.

"I don't know," JP muttered thoughtfully. "Maybe we should just, you know, leave him alone, let him collect his thoughts."

"I gotta disagree with you there, JP," Kira said.

"Leaving him alone to think is the last thing we should do," Dai added, sounding uncharacteristically serious. "A depressed mind is a dangerous thing."

"Someone should go and have a word with him," Bokomon suggested.

"I'll go," Kouichi instantly volunteered.

"Are you sure?" Zoe asked worriedly. "He's already upset…"

"If I don't do it now, I'll keep avoiding this until it's too late," Kouichi said quietly, glancing at the others. "Besides, he needs someone, and that someone might as well be me."

Zoe hesitated, but eventually nodded. "Good luck."

"You make it sound like I'm going into battle," Kouichi commented, smirking. "Thank you, though." With a last glance at the rest of the gang, he left to follow his brother.

As soon as he was gone, the others turned to Zoe, suspicious looks on their faces. "Uh, what are you guys looking at me like that for?" Zoe asked warily.

"Alright, let's just ask straight out," Takuya said, stepping forward. "Zoe, what up with you and Chief lately?"

Zoe quickly glanced down, hiding her look of surprise. "What do you mean?"

"Oh, don't give us that, Zee!" Kira protested. "We're not stupid!"

Zoe gave Kira a quizzical look. "I'm still not following."

"We've noticed the way you and Chief have been acting…okay, the rest of us had to fill Taki in, but still," Kira explained, looking genuinely concerned. "You're always together, you go off randomly then come back and refuse to tell us what you were up to, you always look tense, almost like you're gonna explode. Just tell us what's wrong so we can help out."

While Takuya fumed about what Kira had said, Zoe addressed the others. "Guys, there's really nothing going on, just…relationship things."

JP sighed. "Zee, I really didn't want to go here, but…are you pregnant?"

Zoe was momentarily speechless. "WHAT?! What in the HELL would give you that idea?!"

"Well, like Kira said, you've been spending all your time with Chief, and you seem stressed all the time in a kind of prego way…" JP mumbled sheepishly.

"In a kind of please way?" Zoe asked, confused.

"No, not the Italian prego, I meant…never mind," JP said, dropping the subject.

"It was all JP's idea, by the way," Shino accused, pointing at JP. "We thought he was nuts, too."

"Traitor," JP muttered, glaring at Shino.

Zoe sighed. "Look guys, Kouichi's been going through a…rough patch lately, and I've been trying to help him. Hopefully, after he and Kouji have their talk, things can go back to normal. Okay?"

The others glanced at each other and nodded, trusting Zoe.

—

"Kouji, wait!" Kouji ignored Kouichi's shout, continuing to trudge quickly through the tunnels.

"Kouji!" Kouichi was in fast pursuit of his brother, keeping pace with him step for step. "C'mon Kouji, you know you can't outrun me!"

Kouji still made no indication that he heard Kouichi, which began to aggravate the older twin. "Kouji, for the love of god, I just want to—"

_"Little child, be not afraid…"_ Suddenly the two stopped, hearing a soft but sweet female voice drifting into the tunnel from the cavern to their left.

Curious, Kouichi crept over to the cavern opening, carefully peeking inside around the cloth covering the opening. Kouji remained motionless, head lowered.

What Kouichi saw in the cavern was a small group of baby Digimon, staring in wonder at Masumon. Her voice had been what the twins had heard, for she was currently singing softly to the other Digimon.

_"And someday you'll know that nature is so. The same rain that draws you near me falls on rivers and land, on forests and sand. Makes the beautiful world that you'll see in the morning…"_

Kouichi quickly withdrew from the opening, not wanting to be discovered. He listened to Masumon a moment longer, then turned to Kouji.

Kouji felt his stare and, without turning, muttered, "She loved to sing."

Then he was off again, followed quickly but quietly by Kouichi.

—

"Hey Gotsumon!" Witchmon said cheerily, popping her head into Gotsumon's room. "Good job bringing Masumon back. Now we're one big group 'o friends again!"

"Yeah," Gotsumon muttered listlessly in reply.

Witchmon's face fell when she finally noticed how upset Gotsumon looked. He was sitting alone at the back of the cavern, staring glumly at his magnifying glass.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Witchmon asked gently, approaching Gotsumon.

Gotsumon glanced at Witchmon, then down at the ground. "You don't know what happened, do you?"

Witchmon cocked her head. "What do you mean?"

"It's about…Gaomon," Gotsumon began, saying Gaomon's name with difficulty. "He didn't…make it out."

"You mean he's…" Witchmon trailed off as she comprehended what Gotsumon was saying. "No way. How can he be…dead?"

"Your brother took him out," Gotsumon explained matter-of-factly. "Shino managed to save Gaomon's Digi-Egg, though. That's a bit of good news."

"Wizardmon killed him?" Witchmon said, horrified. "I…I'm sorry, Gotsumon."

"It's fine, Witchmon," Gotsumon reassured, holding up a hand. "You can't help who your family is."

"Yeah, but Gaomon was your friend." Witchmon sat next to Gotsumon, looking as upset as him now. "He was one of the only ones around here who didn't think Shino was unstable."

"It is what it is," Gotsumon muttered, hanging his head dejectedly.

Feeling sorry for him, Witchmon tentatively but comfortingly placed her hand on top of Gotsumon's head. "Gaomon was a good Digimon. He'll be missed."

"He'll be missed because I couldn't protect him," Gotsumon muttered, gripping his magnifying glass tighter. "And this isn't the first time I haven't been able to protect my comrades. I let my home get destroyed by the Royal Knights years ago because I wasn't strong enough. Now, thanks to my faulty planning, Gaomon was killed. I should have known not to pair him with Shino! I should have known that he'd be an easy target for Wizardmon! I…I should have been in Gaomon's place!"

Suddenly, Witchmon wrapped Gotsumon firmly in her embrace, muffling his next sentence. "Don't say that!" Witchmon snapped, shutting her eyes tight. "What would we do without you, Gotsumon? You're too important for us to lose!"

Gotsumon's eyes widened in astonishment, then softened at Witchmon's words. "Thank you, Witchmon. You always seem to know how to slap some sense back into me."

"Damn right I do," Witchmon muttered, still holding him tightly so he wouldn't see her blush. "You big stupid rock."

—

"Kouji." Kouichi, unable to wait any longer, finally grabbed Kouji by the shoulder, stopping him. "Can we please talk?" he asked, sounding desperate now. "It's important."

Kouji didn't say anything for several long minutes. "Fine," he said at last. "We'll talk."

Kouichi sighed with relief. "Thank you, Kouji." He glanced around the tunnel, making sure no one else was near. Then, to be on the safe side, he lifted up the cloth of the cavern to their right to find that it was empty. "We can talk in here, you know, for privacy."

"Fine," Kouji repeated, following Kouichi into the cavern.

There was silence for several moments as Kouichi tried to find the right words. Eventually, he began. "Kouji, I've been keeping something from you. Something big."

When Kouji didn't respond, he continued, "When I went after Duskmon and it seemed like he killed me…"

"He actually did something else," Kouji finished for his brother.

Kouichi faltered, surprised. "Well, yeah. How did you…?"

"I've known all along what happened to you," Kouji interrupted, voice harsh. "Duskmon's made a pact with the devil, hasn't he? Or Nina, in this case."

Kouichi eyes grew wider as Kouji continued his explanation for him. "Duskmon purged you of light for Nina, didn't he? So she could get to you, brainwash you, make you hers. Am I right? You only gave me so much to go on. I had to piece the rest together myself."

"Kouji…" Kouichi muttered quietly. "How…?"

"I overheard you telling Zoe," Kouji explained, not bothering to conceal his malice any more. "And that's not all I heard. Nina wants you to kill me, probably so there's no chance of you breaking from her control. But that's not what's kept you from giving in all this time, is it?"

Kouichi didn't answer, eyes still wide with confusion. Kouji smirked, then said bitterly, "It's because of Zoe, isn't it? SHE'S the one that's been helping you all this time, because SHE'S the only one you decided to tell.

"Well what about me?!" Kouji shouted, all his repressed emotions finally coming out. "I felt it too, when Duskmon stabbed you with that sword. Damn it, I thought you were dead! I felt like a part of my freakin' soul had been ripped out, and I've felt that way ever since! But you didn't even want to clue me in as to why I felt so horrible even though you were alive, did you?! Because you'd much rather tell HER about it!"

"That's not what I was trying to do," Kouichi protested.

"You didn't want to tell me," Kouji continued, ignoring Kouichi. "You said it was because you were ashamed, but I think I know the real reason. You told Zoe instead of me because you trust her more than me! Don't you?!"

"That's not true…" Kouichi said weakly. "That wasn't why…"

"Shut up!" Kouji snapped, silencing Kouichi abruptly. "I've seen you two together, how you're always so lovey-dovey around each other. You'd do anything for her. You'd even let her be with someone else if she wanted to. You love her so much that…that sometimes I wonder if she's more important to you than me!"

Kouichi took a step back, horrified by what he was hearing. "Kouji…I…I didn't mean…I'm sorry…"

"I don't want to hear your apologies!" Kouji yelled angrily, hands balling into fists. "You can't deny what I've said, anyway. You don't give a damn about me anymore. You only wanted to talk to me so you could ask for my help with Nina, right?"

Kouji looked his brother right in the eye, glaring coldly at him. "Well here's my answer. Go help yourself!"

Kouji took a deep breath and stepped back, tirade over. However, the damage had already been done.

Kouichi wasn't hurt. He wasn't devastated. He wasn't even sad. He was just…nothing. The small piece of his soul that Kouji had still held deep inside him was crushed, leaving…nothing. At least, nothing but darkness.

_~I told you this would happen, kitty.~_ Nina's voice echoed in Kouichi's head, sounding genuinely sad for him. _~I told you he would hurt you. The ones you love always hurt you the most. The only way out…is with me.~_

A dark aura began to slowly surround Kouichi, catching Kouji's attention. "Better run off to Zoe, because my help isn't wanted," he muttered irritably. "And here's a message for that Nina chick: bring it on."

Suddenly, Kouichi chuckled bitterly, eyes lowered. "And you say that I don't care about you? How hypocritical!"

Kouichi's gaze shot up as he gave Kouji a harsh glare. "You know, I think Takuya's been right all along; you are an asshole!"

Kouichi stomped toward the cavern opening, shoving past Kouji on his way out. Before he left, though, he turned back and added, "By the way, Nina says 'right back at you, stupid puppy!'" With that, he was gone.

Kouji stared at the cavern opening for several minutes, feeling the guilt slowly set in. What had he done? He'd just single-handedly alienated the only person that he'd have felt comfortable discussing Seiko with, the only one who would have completely understood him, the only one he felt comfortable…crying in front of.

Kouji dropped to his knees, finally letting the tears flow. The one miracle he'd secretly desired for three years had come true…at too high a price.

"Seiko's gone," he said to himself, staring at his falling tears. "She doesn't love me…not anymore…and now Kouichi hates me."

Kouji fell to the ground, letting his grief consume him. "I hurt him so much that now he'll turn to Nina to calm his pain! And then…he's gonna kill me!"

Kouji hugged his knees to his chest, repeating, "All my fault," quietly to himself, referring to both Seiko and Kouichi.

Through his anguish Kouji barely noticed how much his arm stung where Kouichi had bumped into him…with that dark aura around him.

—

"Hey Chief! How'd it go with Kouji?" Takuya waved at his friend, noticing him approaching down the hallway. However, as Kouichi got closer, Takuya noticed something odd about him. His fists were clenched and he looked as if he were furious about something. The weirdest thing, though, was that Takuya could see a dark, almost purpley aura surrounding him…

"Kouichi, are you okay?" Takuya asked worriedly, stepping in front of Kouichi and stopping him in his tracks. "You seem really pissed. Did something happen with Kouji? Wait, did he yell at you? That's it, I don't care how upset he is, he's—"

"I deserved it," Kouichi muttered, interrupting Takuya. "I've deserved it since you guys first met me. I tried to kill you and what do you do? You accept me. Well, there'll be no more of that, will there?"

"Kouichi, what are you saying?" Takuya asked slowly, concern increasing. "Are you talking about…that's in the past. We forgave you for that, and you've made up for it a hundred times over!"

"It doesn't stop the guilt," Kouichi retorted, moving in order to get around Takuya.

Takuya quickly stepped into Kouichi's path, staring adamantly at him. "I'm not letting you leave, buddy."

In retaliation, Kouichi shoved Takuya down, shouting, "Just leave me the hell alone!" Takuya watched helplessly as Kouichi ran down the tunnel, quickly disappearing into the darkness with that aura still surrounding him.

"Kouichi," he muttered, worry creasing his forehead.

—

Zoe walked down the tunnel, going back to the gang's room after having checked on Gotsumon to make sure he was alright. She'd only poked her head in, though, because she quickly saw that Witchmon was taking care of it.

Zoe sighed. "She looked so happy," she said to herself, pondering her own relationship. "I wonder if Kouichi felt as frustrated as Witchmon does when I didn't take the hint…oh, he probably did! I'm so stupid!"

"I can't." Suddenly Zoe heard Kouichi's voice, as if it were on cue. She followed the sound of it until it led her down the tunnel to her right where she found him, hands against the wall and head lowered as he continued muttering to himself. He also had that horrible dark aura around him.

Zoe slowly approached as he continued, "I can't do it. I can't force myself to. Yes, he was a jerk to me, but that doesn't give me a reason to…I know what he said, Nina!"

"Kouichi!" Zoe yelled, forcing Kouichi out of his inner struggling.

He looked up with a start, seeing Zoe standing above him. He didn't say anything as he stared at her.

"Kouichi, what happened?" Zoe asked, watching his aura warily. "You look upset. Hold on, where's Kouji? You told him, didn't you? What'd he say?"

Kouichi glanced down, replying, "He said 'go help yourself.'" Then he fell to his knees in front of Zoe, tears beginning to bead in his eyes. "Oh god Zoe, he hates us! And I'm to blame!"

"Kouichi, what do you mean?" Zoe asked gently, crouching down to Kouichi's level. "Why would Kouji hate us? That doesn't make any sense."

"I don't trust him," Kouichi continued, dark aura slowly dissipating. "At least, that's what he said. He even said that…I didn't give a damn about him anymore! Not since we started dating! Zoe, he's jealous of you! And it's my fault!"

Zoe's eyes widened in shock. "But…that can't be true! How can he compare himself to me? You're twins! I could never get between that, and I wouldn't want to!"

"Apparently Kouji doesn't agree," Kouichi responded quietly, wrapping his arms around himself. "Now he hates me…it's hopeless…I'll be forced to kill him!"

Zoe quickly embraced Kouichi tightly, trying to soothe him as well as herself. "It's not hopeless. We'll find another way to help you. We have to!"

Kouichi rested his head on Zoe's shoulder, too tired to do anything but cry. This time, however, Zoe cried with him. The dark aura had completely vanished at this point.

—

Shino lay on his side in the cavern, trying desperately to fall into the embrace of sleep just to quiet his racing mind for two seconds.

_Why'd he spare him?_ Shino asked himself for about the hundredth time. _And for that matter, why'd he spare me?_

No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't come up with an answer to these questions. It wasn't like Wizardmon to show mercy. That was apparent from his mental torture of Shino. And yet, he'd let Shino go, with Gaomon's Digi-Egg intact. He'd even seemed guilty…

But that was ridiculous. Wizardmon was evil, right to his core. Shino despised him more than anyone…except maybe his ex-girlfriend.

_Why do assholish people always decide that they're gonna make my life crap?_ Shino asked himself, bringing his ponderings to a close. However, he couldn't deny the nagging voice in the back of his head that kept telling him he was lying to himself, that he still loved Mai, despite what she'd done, that he loved a girl who was already taken, that he was so masochistic…

"JP, wake up! Now!" Shino had to force himself to keep his eyes shut so he wouldn't betray himself to Takuya, whose harsh whisper was followed by JP's grumbling.

"Taki, c'mon, I've been dealing with two femur-wieldin' ogres all day," JP complained. "Can't whatever you're gonna say wait until tomorrow?"

"No," Takuya replied firmly. A second later, Shino heard Takuya whisper, "Tommy, get up!"

"What's goin' on?" Tommy asked groggily.

"Something really bad, I can tell you that," Takuya said, sounding nervous. "Guys, there is a definite disturbance in the force."

"Judging by the Star Wars reference, this has to do with the twins, right?" JP asked.

"Yeah," Takuya replied. "I just ran into Kouichi in the tunnel. He…didn't look too good."

"What do you mean?" Tommy asked. "Was he sick?"

"No," Takuya said. "I just noticed that he looked really ticked off, so I asked him what was wrong." Shino heard Takuya gulp before he continued. "I don't know what happened between Kouji and him, but from what he said, I think Kouji yelled at him and shook him up pretty badly."

"What?" JP asked incredulously. "Chief was trying to help him! That little punk!"

"It gets worse," Takuya continued. "Kouichi told me he deserved it. I think he was agonizing over his leftover guilt from his Duskmon days."

_Duskmon?_ Shino wondered to himself. _Why would Kouichi be worried about that now? It happened almost two years ago._

"Why would Kouichi be worried about Duskmon now?" JP asked Shino's question for him. "I thought he knew that we forgave him for that."

"That's what I told him," Takuya replied. "But he said that didn't stop the guilt. Then he told me to leave him the hell alone, shoved me down, and ran off."

"Poor Kouichi," Tommy muttered, sounding worried. "What can we do to make him feel better?"

"That's why I woke you guys up," Takuya said. "I have an idea. Maybe if Kouichi were to be accepted by people who didn't already know what he'd done, he'd feel better."

"But everyone here already knows…the other four." Shino tried to keep as still as possible, feeling JP's gaze on him.

"That's right," Takuya agreed. "I think it's time they knew about Kouichi's past, and since he's too freaked to tell them, we'll just have to do it for him. Plus, Kira's been hounding me about it."

"Do you think Kouichi would be okay with that?" Tommy asked incredulously.

"Hey, he never said we couldn't tell them," Takuya retorted. "I'm sure he'll thank us for it later."

"Well…okay then," Tommy muttered his agreement. "I'm in."

"Me too," JP added. "You want to wake them up now and tell them?"

Shino flinched. _Oh crap, they don't know that Kouji already told me about Kouichi and Duskmon! They're gonna expect me to be surprised! Alright, I'll just have to pretend I'm surprised…but I suck at acting!_

"No, let's just wait until tomorrow." Shino inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. He had until tomorrow to prepare himself. Unfortunately, that gave him something else to crowd his mind with.

_I'm not getting any sleep tonight, am I?_ Shino thought sarcastically.

—

"I'm curious as to why the alarms weren't raised BEFORE the Legendary Warriors infiltrated the RMS," Ilsemon said, staring at the two Ogremon before her. "Would you kindly enlighten me?"

"Milady," one Ogremon began. "There were two Digimon that approached us and provided us with much-needed entertainment."

"It was a Smileymon magic show!" the other Ogremon added.

Ilsemon raised her eyebrow quizzically, glancing at Hallucimon. "What is a Smileymon?"

"No clue, milady," Hallucimon replied, shrugging his cat shoulders. "Sounds like a pretty stupid name, though. I mean, Smileymon? Really? Digimon hasn't sunk THAT low!"

"Agreed," Ilsemon said, turning back to the guards. "Well, I've got some good news and some bad news for you two. The good news is that I'm letting you live. The bad news is that I'm in a torturing mood, so take them away, Renamon!"

The Ogremons' eyes widened in panic and fear as Renamon appeared behind them, escorting them from Ilsemon's presence.

"Such a shame, considering they did exactly what I wanted them to," Ilsemon muttered to herself, smiling wickedly. "Oh well. It's torturing time!"

—

_"But I'll still be here in the morning,"_ Masumon finished, taking a breath. The baby Digimon crowded in front of her were now fast asleep. "Sleep tight, you little cuties!"

"Thank you so much," Swanmon thanked her, bowing slightly. "They were so anxious when they heard those two Tentomon talking about Ilsemon. I didn't think I'd ever get them to sleep!"

"Oh, it was no trouble!" Masumon said reassuringly. "I love kids, and I love to sing, so it was win-win!"

"But you must be exhausted!" Swanmon said worriedly. "You've been through quite an ordeal."

"Well, I'll live," Masumon replied, smile fading slightly. "But I am pretty tired. I'd better go find a place to sleep."

"Thank you again," Swanmon called as Masumon exited the cavern…just as Kouichi stormed past, looking about ready to kill someone.

Masumon shivered, feeling that same dark energy she'd felt around him before. However, she also felt a familiar presence further down the tunnel, and its pull was stronger than Kouichi's. So she followed it down the tunnel until she came to the correct cavern. Peeking in, she didn't see anyone. Then she looked down.

Kouji was lying on the cavern floor in a fetal position, muttering something to himself. Listening closely, Masumon realized that he was repeating the phrase "All my fault."

"Kouji, what's wrong? What happened?" Masumon crouched down next to Kouji, looking concerned.

Kouji looked up slowly, eyes brimming with tears. Seeing Masumon, he quickly sat up, holding his head in his hands. "I didn't…want you…to see me…like this…" Kouji said between sobs.

"Kouji, you don't have to hide your emotions from me," Masumon reassured gently, smiling. "Everyone cries. It's a way to vent."

Kouji didn't reply, unable to stop his sobs now that they'd begun. Masumon scooted slowly over to Kouji, putting her arm soothingly around his shoulders. "Do you mind if I stay here with you? I promise not to ask any questions about why you're crying."

Kouji shook his head, feeling too distraught to deny her touch. So he didn't try to stop Masumon when she wrapped her other arm around him, fully embracing him. He didn't even bother to stop her from singing softly in his ear, despite the fact that it sent chills down his spine.

And eventually, her lullaby caused him to fall asleep in her arms, which he didn't mind in the least.

—

_madjack89:_ Aw, that's soooo sweet, Kouji!

_Kouji: *depressed*_

_madjack89:_ Uh…okay, what do you think, Kouichi?

_Kouichi: *depressed*_

_madjack89:_ Um…Zoe?

_Zoe: *depressed*_

_madjack89:_ Alright, whoever's not depressed, please raise your hand!

_Takuya, Kira, Dai, Hotaru, JP, Tommy: *raise hands*_

_madjack89:_ Looks like I'm working with you guys this commentary.

_JP:_ Well, that's kind of your own fault.

_madjack89: *glares*_

_JP: _…Never mind.

_madjack89:_ So, looks like a lot of crap's gotta get fixed next arc, huh?

_Takuya:_ No kidding.

_Kira:_ You should probably rename this chapter "The Angst Corner."

_madjack89:_ Heh, yeah!

_Takuya:_ Or "Emos 'R Us."

_madjack89:_ Uh-huh…

_JP:_ Or "Can Someone Say Antidepressants?"

_madjack89:_ Yes…

_Dai:_ Or "Chocolate cake=yay!"

_madjack89:_ Alright, that's enough!

_Takuya:_ Aw, but it's fun!

_Sasori:_ How about "Tormented Teens?"

_madjack89:_ Get back in your cage, anime Pinocchio!

_Sasori:_ One of these days, Madjack…

_madjack89:_ What'll you do, throw a puppet at me?

_Sasori: *eye twitches*_

_Hotaru:_ Uh…according to these cue cards, in the next chapter, the guys will gather me, Dai, and Kira together to tell us the truth about Kouichi, while Zoe drags Shino off to try and desperately plead for his help with Kouichi. And there will probably be more angst to come.

_Dai:_ Till then, see ya!

_Kira:_ Hey guys, watch! _*pokes Kouji*_ He's fun to poke!

_Takuya:_ _*goes over and pokes Kouji*_ You're right, this is fun!

_Kouji: *too depressed to care*_


	30. Ch 30: Take My Hand

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 30: Take My Hand**

_madjack89:_ Good news, everyone! We're at chapter thirty!

_Dai:_ Yay!

_madjack89:_ More good news! I've gotten over 300 reviews for this story!

_Dai:_ Yay!

_madjack89:_ More good news! I'm gonna make fun of Sasori!

_Dai:_ Yay!

_Sasori:_ What?

_madjack89:_ You see, I've been watching the dub of Naruto Shippuden on Disney whatever it is now. Anyway, we FINALLY got to the part where Sasori jumps out of his little puppet shield thingy…

_Pein:_ Hiruko.

_madjack89:_ Does it matter?

_Pein:_ True.

_madjack89:_ And unmasks himself. Want to know what my brother thought of him?

_Kira:_ Yeah!

_Sasori:_ No!

_madjack89:_ My brother's first impression of Sasori, and I quote, was, "He looks like a girl."

_Everyone:_ …HA HA HA HA!

_Sasori:_ You can all drown in your own misery!

_Takuya:_ Like half of us haven't already done that?

_Sasori:_ That's it; DIE! *_takes out puppets*_

_madjack89:_ Uh, while we duck and cover, enjoy these lovely answers to your gracious reviews!

-

_Aldamonburst:_ I didn't know there was such a thing as fish fu. Fascinating! (lol) Poor Haio though, getting smacked with a yellowtail. I feel no sympathy for Night, however, because he's a meanie! Alright, thanks for reviewing, Burst!

_garnettfox:_ Hm…that's a very interesting idea. I could probably use parts of this! Great idea! Oh, and sorry Dragramon hasn't done much yet. However, her time will finally shine in this arc! Okay, thanks for reviewing!

_DigiBleach:_ (_Duskmon:_ Thank you! Finally! *_stomps off*_) Don't mind Mr. Grumpy over there. He's just mad because he got a glimpse at my notes about him for upcoming chapters. (_Duskmon: *glares*_) Alright, thanks for reviewing! Go angst!

_GoldenDragon326:_ Yup, Taki got a couple good lines in that chapter! Yay! Thanks for reviewing!

_13wolfsbane:_ Aw, I knew you didn't really hate him THAT much, Yin! Just enough to rough him up a little! Now Hotaru, talk to your fans! (_Hotaru:_ Uh…thanks again. Wow, an idol…and I thought Kira was the only one.) (_Kira:_ See, you are awesomeness personified!) (_Hotaru: *slightly embarrassed*_) Thanks for the review, guys!

_61wisampa:_ Heh, I am pretty evil, huh? But, since my conscience is ten times the size of a normal one, I will of course end up resolving everyone's issues so they can be happy again! Yay! Okay, thanks for reviewing!

_beybladeingninjaprincess:_ Sounds good! Beam up the angst, Scotty! (lol) Thanks for reviewing! (_Nina:_ I'm just so lovable!)

_apapa155:_ Don't fret, I won't let Sasori hurt or otherwise maim Allen! And sorry about the twin separation, but it's for the sake of plot and character development! Alright, thanks for reviewing!

_fg1fg:_ If you thought Kouichi was evil THERE, just wait… (_Kouichi:_ Madjack, what are you going to do to me?) You'll see…anyway, even MORE snow came after the initial downfall, so we got a heck of a lot of snow! It's probably the most snow I've physically seen in my life! Well, thanks for reviewing!

_Kirae-Remi:_ Heh, Kouichi is kind of a wimp, but he's OUR wimp! (_Kouichi:_ …I'm not sure whether to be insulted or not…) Oh, don't worry, Taki will have quite a big roll to play in the next arc…anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_TobiGB: _Bad Madara, bad! *_squirts Madara with squirt gun*_ (_Nina: *blushes and giggles*_ Wow, how flattering!) Oh boy, this can't end well. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

-

_madjack89: *avoiding poison darts*_ So, let's get the chapter rolling while I try to calm Sasori down!

_JP: _Uh, Madjack, why is there a person in our closet?

_madjack89:_ Oh, that's just Allen!

_Allen:_ Um, hi.

_JP: *closes closet door slowly then finds another place to hide*_

—

_"Shut up, Nina," Kouichi said for about the fiftieth time, keeping his eyes firmly shut so she wouldn't be able to try any more eye tricks._

_"I really don't understand why you're so against me still, kitty," Nina, despite Kouichi's many protests, continued her arguments. "Your brother hates you for loving someone. He's been jealous all along! It's probably because he lost his own love…"_

_"You don't know anything about that," Kouichi interrupted, sounding adamant._

_"Don't I?" Nina retorted, her voice echoing painfully in Kouichi's ears. "In case you're forgetting, I lost YOU ages ago! Now, finally, we can be together again, and you refuse to let that happen!"_

_"How many times do I have to remind you that I'm NOT Lowemon?!" Kouichi shouted, fists clenching. This was the absolute last thing he needed. Nina just wouldn't leave him alone! Not after what Kouji had said…_

_Go help yourself!_

_Kouichi's eyes shot open and there was Nina, staring him straight in the eye. He quickly glanced down as Nina muttered, "Kitty, I'm really not trying to hurt you, I'm trying to help. All the Light will ever do is betray you. So please…take my hand."_

_Once again, Nina offered her hand to Kouichi, grinning broadly. Kouichi glanced at her hand, imagining the possibilities of what she was offering. He remembered what it had been like when he'd been Duskmon. Consumed by darkness. Heartless, soulless, emotionless. Nothing Kouji had said would hurt him anymore. He'd be free…to kill his brother._

_"Go away and let me sleep, Nina," Kouichi growled softly, closing his eyes slowly._

—

Kouichi's eyes shot open. From his surroundings, he quickly realized he was back in the cavern he and Zoe had shared the previous night. However, something was missing now. Or rather, someone.

"Zoe?" Kouichi sat up, glancing frantically left and right. This was in vain, though, because Zoe was nowhere in the cavern.

Kouichi shot to his feet and left the cavern, hastily rushing through the tunnels. "C'mon, please be somewhere nearby, Zoe," he muttered to himself. He knew it wouldn't be long before Nina came after him again, and he knew that he'd never resist her on his own. Not now that he'd been abandoned by his only other option. "I need you."

"Kouichi was Duskmon."

Kouichi stopped suddenly, hearing the ear-shattering phrase coming from the cavern to his left. With wide eyes and shaking hands, he slowly approached the opening, glancing around the cloth to reveal what he'd feared.

Takuya, JP, Tommy, and…even Kouji. Then Kira, Dai, Hotaru. The others had told them. They knew what he'd done. They knew everything. And his friends had betrayed his secret to them. Kouji had betrayed him.

Kouichi backed away from the cavern opening, head lowered. Then he walked slowly away, a dark aura beginning to appear around him.

—

_Earlier…_

"Guys, there's something we need to tell you," Takuya suddenly announced, looking uncharacteristically serious. Dai and Hotaru looked surprised, Shino tried to look surprised, while Kira…

"It's about freakin' time you told us what's what with Chief!" Kira exclaimed, grinning excitedly. "And finally we'll know what ol' Eyeball Guy's deal is!"

"Wait, what?" Hotaru asked, confused. "What are you talking about?"

"Oh boy, story time!" Dai said, excited despite the fact that he was as clueless as Hotaru.

"Sorry Dai, but this probably won't be a very happy story time," JP cautioned, glancing at Shino. "Uh, Shino, why do you have that weird look on your face?"

"No reason," Shino said quickly, turning his head. "I mean, it's not like I already know what Kouichi and Duskmon have in common or anything! Heh heh…heh."

The others gave Shino confused looks. "Um, Shino, is there something you'd like to share with the rest of the class?" Kira asked.

Shino almost tried to continue his clueless charade, but realized it was futile and sighed. "Well, actually, there is something I need to confess. You see, I already know—"

"Shino, I need you! Now!" Zoe suddenly rushed into the cavern, grabbed Shino by the arm, and dragged him out before he could finish his confession.

After a moment of uncomfortable silence, Kira said, "We're gonna have to wait until he gets back, aren't we?"

"He already knows." Everyone turned, surprised to hear Kouji's voice behind them. They hadn't even noticed that he'd come in after Zoe and Shino's exit.

"Where've you been?" JP asked, getting the obligatory question out of the way.

"Around," Kouji replied softly. The others could easily tell that he'd had a rough night, what with his slightly disheveled appearance and bloodshot eyes. They didn't question this, though, and let him continue, "I already told Shino about Kouichi. It was awhile ago, back in the human world."

"Seriously?" Takuya said, surprised. "Then why couldn't you have told Kira too?! She's been picking and picking at it ever since Duskmon showed up!"

"I have a healthy curiosity," Kira stated, smirking.

"I think I'm beginning to develop some curiosity about this myself," Hotaru said, giving the others questioning looks. "What happened to Kouichi that's such a big secret?"

"And what's it have to do with Mr. Creepy Eyeball Guy?" Dai added. (_Duskmon:_ What is with all this name calling? Maybe I should call you names and see how you like it, you little midget!)

Kouji glanced at Takuya, JP, and Tommy. "You're going to tell them the truth, but why now?"

"Because of your argument with Kouichi," Takuya stated, still a bit angry at Kouji for his supposed outburst.

Kouji flinched, confirming Takuya's suspicion. "Wait, you and Chief got in an argument?" Kira asked, astonished. "Is that even physically possible for you guys?"

"Apparently," Takuya muttered, glaring at Kouji. "Listen Kouji, I don't know what set you off or what the hell happened between you two, but you really hurt Kouichi last night."

"I know," Kouji said quietly, eyes downcast. "I know that I hurt him, more so than you probably even realize. I said horrible things to him…and I want to make up for it. If you guys really believe that telling these three about Kouichi's past will help him, then I'm in."

Takuya smiled slightly. "Sounds good. Alright, who wants to start?"

"I will," JP said, clearing his throat. "It was a dark and stormy night…"

"Tommy, why don't you start?" Takuya suddenly said, cutting JP off.

While JP sulked in a corner, Tommy began, "Okay, do you guys remember how we said we found Kouichi on the Dark Continent the last time we were here?" The three nodded. "Well, we didn't exactly find him. He found us."

"That's not such a big deal," Dai stated, cocking his head. "Why was that a secret?"

"That wasn't the secret," Takuya explained impatiently, taking up the story telling. "Alright, you know that Duskmon attacked us a few times throughout the Dark Continent. What you don't know is that he started paying a lot of attention to Kouji after our second encounter, when he almost killed me and Kouji…took the bullet for me."

Takuya glanced at Kouji before continuing, "Anyway, he couldn't finish Kouji off for some reason. When he saw Kouji's face, he suddenly couldn't bring himself to do it."

"Wow, Dusky's a pansy?" Kira asked incredulously. "Who knew?"

"It wasn't because he was a pansy," JP said flatly, joining the others again. "It was because he recognized him."

Kira's, Hotaru's, and Dai's eyes all widened in confusion. "But Duskmon is a Digimon," Hotaru muttered thoughtfully. "He couldn't have seen Kouji before…what does Kouichi have to do with this?"

"He has everything to do with it," Takuya replied. "You see…Kouichi…well, he was…he wasn't thinking straight, so…"

"Kouichi was Duskmon," Kouji stated simply, saying what the others couldn't.

No one said anything for several long minutes. Takuya, JP, Kouji, and Tommy were anxious for the others' reactions, while the others were just trying to process the new information.

Finally, as was her habit, Kira broke the silence. "No way…not Chief…he wouldn't do that…"

"Now you see why we didn't tell you before," Kouji muttered. "If you'd known what he did before you actually got to know him…"

"How?" Hotaru asked, interrupting Kouji. "How did it happen? I can believe that it happened, but how?"

Kira turned to Hotaru, looking horrified. "You can believe that Kouichi could be…how the hell could you think that?!"

"Because he's done horrible things, too," Dai said quietly, turning to the others. "So, how did it happen?"

"We'll take over from here, Kouji," JP said, glancing at Kouji before facing the rest of the group. "Well, here's how it started. Kouichi was feeling pretty miffed about the whole 'OMG, I have a dad and twin brother' thing. Then, as you know, he followed/stalked Kouji (_Kouichi:_ Fine, I'm a stalker. Is that what you wanted to hear?) (It's a start!) (_Kouichi: *sigh*_) and ended up falling down some stairs."

"Like we told you before, he did wind up in the Digital World after that, and he was just a spirit," Tommy continued. "But he wasn't exactly on the Dark Continent yet. He was in the Dark Area."

"I've heard this part before," Kira muttered, still feeling slightly shell-shocked. "Dusky told me a little of this story when he came after me at my house. He said Chief was all upset and stuff and then Cherubimon showed up."

"Exactly," Takuya said, confirming Kira's statement. "He'd kept all his emotions bottled up inside him, and in the Dark Area, they all burst out. Cherubimon saw it as the perfect opportunity to manipulate Kouichi, so he did."

"Meaning?" Hotaru asked, getting slightly impatient.

"Meaning Cherubimon gave Kouichi Duskmon's spirit," Kouji said, jumping in. "He was corrupted and lost his human memories in the process. Then, after some battles with him, he slowly regained his memories, told me I was his brother, tried to kill me, and finally got purified by me and joined the group."

"Yeah, that's it in a nutshell," JP added, glancing warily at the pained look on Kouji's face.

After a moment, Takuya turned to Dai, Hotaru, and Kira and asked, "Well, what do you think?"

—

_Earlier (again)…_

Shino was too confused to say anything or try to pull away as Zoe yanked him from the cavern and dragged him down the various twisty tunnels of the Resistance base. Finally, when he got his thoughts back in order, he realized what Zoe had said before she'd grabbed him.

_Shino, I need you! Now!_

"You…need me?" Shino hadn't realized he'd said this out loud until Zoe glanced back at him.

"Yeah," she replied, not noticing the acute blush on Shino's cheeks. "Or, to be more accurate, Kouichi needs you."

"Oh…" Shino's face fell as he realized that, once again, Zoe was acting on behalf of Kouichi, just like she always did. Like she always would do. Trying to hide his disappointed expression, he said, "What does he need me for? Why not ask Takuya or JP or…someone else?"

Zoe finally stopped in the middle of an empty tunnel, turning to face Shino as she said, "You know that Kouji and Kouichi had a fight last night, don't you? Otherwise, you would've suggested I get Kouji's help."

Shino cocked his head. "That's pretty perceptive of you."

"Yeah, I guess it is, but that's not what I wanted to talk to you about," Zoe replied, talking slightly faster than normal.

"Zoe, are you okay?" Shino asked, growing concerned by Zoe's behavior. "You seem a little twitchy."

"I feel a little twitchy," she replied quietly, glancing over her shoulder. When she turned back to Shino, determination lit up her eyes. "Shino, I'm going to tell you a secret, but only if you promise not to tell anyone else. Can you do that?"

"Zoe, I already know about Kouichi and Duskmon," Shino confessed, head lowered as if he were in trouble.

"You know about that…?" Zoe asked, looking momentarily confused. Then she shook her head and continued, "Well, that just makes this easier to explain. Okay, you know how Duskmon stabbed Kouichi and we thought he was dead but then he got back up and seemed like he was fine?"

Shino nodded. "Well, he wasn't," Zoe said flatly, eyes looking troubled again. "For lack of better phrasing, Duskmon's attack sucked the light out of him, leaving only his darkness."

"But he's the Warrior of Darkness," Shino commented. "Darkness is his element. Can't he handle it?"

Zoe's expression suddenly turned cold. "You don't understand darkness, Shino. It's unstable. It'll consume anything, anyONE, in its path. I think the only thing that was keeping Kouichi stable before was his connection with Kouji, and now that it's gone…"

"Wait," Shino said, still trying to process all that Zoe was saying. "So you're saying that Duskmon's attack brought out Kouichi's darkness. Why would he do that? Why not just kill Kouichi? It's pretty obvious they don't like each other."

"Nina," Zoe stated simply. "A personification of Darkness. I know it's hard to wrap your mind around, but Nina is Darkness. And she's invaded Kouichi, trying to corrupt him so he can…" Zoe didn't seem able to continue her sentence. She covered her mouth as a single tear managed to escape her eye and roll down her cheek.

Without thinking, Shino stuck out his hand and brushed the tear gently off Zoe's cheek. Then, smiling slightly, he said, "I think I can guess what he'd do. The real question is, what does he need me for?"

Composing herself somewhat, Zoe continued, "All those times that Kouichi and I went off alone were actually times when I was keeping him from submitting to Nina. I think that being around friends helps him resist her, but after Kouji yelled at him last night, it's been getting harder for him."

"Why'd Kouji yell at him, anyway?" Shino asked curiously. "You know, don't you?"

Zoe nodded. "Kouji…got mad at us…"

"Us?" Shino's eyes narrowed slowly. "As in Kouichi AND you?"

Zoe nodded again, eyes welling up with tears. "Kouichi tried to ask him for help, but he refused because he's…jealous of me."

"Really?" Shino asked skeptically. "I didn't think Kouji rolled that way…"

"This is serious, Shino!" Zoe shouted, glaring harshly at him. "Kouji thinks that I'm more important to Kouichi than him and now he refuses to help Kouichi! If something happens to Kouichi, it'll be my fault!"

"No it—"

"Yes it will, Shino!" Zoe interrupted. "That's why I need your help! I need you to help me find a way to fix Kouji and Kouichi's bond. Without it, they'll both…I don't even know!"

Shino watched wide-eyed as tears began to stream down Zoe's cheeks. He'd never seen her this worked up before. He wasn't sure anyone else had, either. "Zoe…why are you asking me for help? Why not ask someone else?"

Zoe managed to chuckle slightly through her sobs. "You have no faith in yourself, Shino. That's a shame since you're such a great guy."

Shino didn't even attempt to hide the blush that crept slowly over his cheeks, warming him. "R-really?"

Zoe smirked. "Of course, Shino. You're a great friend."

Like that, the warmth in Shino faded. Gradually, he lowered his head, keeping his eyes fixed on the floor. "I see," he muttered. _I'll never be anything more to you…_

"Yeah," Zoe replied, noticing Shino sudden change in expression. Her eyebrow rose curiously. "Shino, what's wrong?"

_I'll always be your great friend…_

"Shino, why won't you answer me?" Zoe asked, beginning to get genuinely worried.

_You'll never love me like you do him…_

"Shino, say something!" Zoe demanded, gripping his shoulder with her hand.

Her touch triggered something in Shino. A hidden impulse. A desire he could no longer deny. Shino's hand suddenly shot up, grabbing Zoe's arm and pulling her toward him. Before she could free herself from his grip, their lips had met.

_I'll always be used…_

—

"I give up," Kouichi mumbled quietly, eyes downcast.

Nina was momentarily stunned. She hadn't anticipated Kouichi's sudden loss of will, despite what they'd both just witnessed. However, she wasn't complaining. "You really mean it, kitty?"

As an answer, Kouichi held out his hand in front of Nina. His eyes were shut tight as if he didn't want to see what he was about to do. "I'm tired of fighting," he muttered, hand shaking slightly. "Just take the pain away before I change my mind."

"Okie-dokes!" Nina said happily, grabbing Kouichi's hand. "Fair warning; this might sting a little."

Kouichi stared morosely at his and Nina's clasped hands as a dark energy began to glow between them. _I'm sorry, guys. I…_

Suddenly, Kouichi's only thought was of pain. Intense pain.

He dropped to his hands and knees, trembling uncontrollably. His eyes were wide, yet his gaze wasn't fixed on anything. His expression was blank from the pain. He couldn't even scream, it was so severe. Just as he felt that he was about to explode…it stopped.

"I told you it would sting a little," Nina muttered sheepishly. "But there's no time for you to recuperate now. We have things to do and puppies to kill!"

Kouichi didn't reply for several minutes, eyes hidden from view. Right when Nina's patience was about to wear thin, Kouichi chuckled quietly.

"Wow, that really did sting like a bitch," Kouichi muttered, getting slowly to his feet. Nina no longer stood in front of him, meaning he was back in the tunnels. He smirked as he continued, "But like you said, there's no time to recuperate. No rest for the wicked, after all."

Finally he lifted his head, revealing the now cold depths of his usually warm blue eyes. "Well, let's go kill Kouji. Shall we?"

—

_madjack89:_ Oh noes, it's evil Kouichi! We're all DOOOOOOOOOOOOMED!

_Kouichi:_ Heh…it's about time I showed up. All that angst was giving me a headache.

_Kira:_ Wow, everything I know and love has been completely flipped. Shino kissed Zoe, Chief is evil, Taki's being serious for once, what next?!

_Sasori:_ I'm sorry for attacking you earlier.

_Kira:_ …APOCALYPSE!

_madjack89:_ I managed to calm Sasori down and then told him he had to apologize to us. Good boy, Sasori! *_pats head*_

_Sasori: *glares*_ I only agreed to this because you said you'd tell us what YOU think of the Shippuden dub so far.

_Dai:_ Oh boy, story time! Again!

_madjack89:_ Let's see…Deidara's voice is cool, I always *_heart* _me some Team Guy, Crispin Freeman FTW, Neji's spinning it right round baby right round (like a record)…

_Neji: *glares*_

_madjack89:_ …Sakura is no longer Suckura, Chiyo has a funny way of yelling Sakura's name, Crispin Freeman FTW…

_JP:_ You said that already.

_madjack89:_ You can never say that too many times!

_Kouichi:_ Just because your voice sucks compared to mine doesn't mean you have to complain, JP.

_JP:_ …What…?

_madjack89:_ Better get used to Chief insulting you, because there'll be a lot more where that came from in chapter 31! Hooray!

_Pein:_ You didn't say anything about me, Madjack.

_madjack89:_ You haven't done much yet. But your voice is nice, too! And my brother thinks your eyes are cool!

_Pein:_ In that case, I approve of your brother.

_madjack89:_ Um…thank you?


	31. Ch 31: Pushing Me Away

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 31: Pushing Me Away**

_madjack89:_ Hi guys! Itachi's here today to help us with a little…issue concerning evil Kouichi.

_Itachi:_ Madjack is afraid that Madara is going to invade her story, so she called me in order to help her set up a "Madara shield."

_madjack89:_ He'll probably hop in and steal Kouichi and Nina if I don't take these precautions!

_Kouichi:_ Nina says she wouldn't be stolen by Madara.

_madjack89:_ And now Nina wants to run away with the guy! Argh!

_Takuya:_ You know this is all your fault, right?

_madjack89:_ …Choose your next words carefully, for they could be your last, Taki.

_Takuya: *grows pale*_ Uh…never mind…

_madjack89:_ That's what I thought you said.

_Itachi:_ Perhaps you should answer reviews now.

_madjack89:_ Good idea.

-

_DigiBleach:_ (_Itachi:_ In all honesty, he's freaking me out a little bit too.) No kidding. Hey Kouji, here's a helpful book! (_Kouji: *looks at book title*_ I hate the world!) Aw, don't be like that! Anyway, thanks for the review!

_apapa155:_ Well, you see, all the other rooms were filled, so I had to stick Allen in the closet. I've been feeding him though! Yay! Though I think I freaked JP out…anyway, Eva, I know you're mad, but I need Nina to stick around for more plot development, okay? Alright, thanks for reviewing!

_Dawn of Glory:_ I don't know if this is just me, but Naruto's voice doesn't really bother me. It's just his voice. But who cares what I think? (lol) Anyway, I'm still mad at Sasuke, so I don't think he's very emo-licious, but whatever. I love Kyon's Crispin Freemanness! Kya! Wow, fangirl moment. Alright, thanks for reviewing! And stop taking all the credit, Kouji! (_Kouji: *glares*_)

_TobiGB: _Back Madara, back! *_gets behind Itachi*_ Shield! Shield! (_Itachi: *rolls eyes*_) Uh, anyway, thanks for reviewing, GB!

_GoldenDragon326:_ Itachi, block the plot holes so no one can mess with the plot! (_Itachi:_ Okay.) Sorry, but I can't have anyone doing anything to Nina since she's so integral to future events. (_Zoe:_ Damn it. *_puts bazooka away*_) Don't worry about Kouichi though, he'll be fine. (_JP:_ Will he?) Stop questioning me! Okay, thanks for reviewing!

_Aldamonburst:_ Aw, thank you Kaito! And you can call me Madjoke if you like since you're so cute! (I'm a sucker for cute things.) Thanks for reviewing! Cupcakes!

_garnettfox:_ Dragramon, get out here! (_Dragramon:_ No! *_munching on crisps*_) You'll finally get a fight sequence if you come out. (_Dragramon:_ …Fine.) Yup, that's right, Dragramon's finally gonna Digivolve next chapter! Yay! Alright, thanks for reviewing!

(_Nina:_ Uh, I don't think I want to crawl under a dust-bunny laden bed.) Wow, the fall out shelter works!

_61wisampa:_ El apocalipsis! (Español!) Yeah, the point of this arc is basically to flip everything upside down so that everything can be resolved! How it gets resolved remains to be seen…anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_beybladeingninjaprincess:_ Yay music puns! No, don't kill me evil Kouichi! If you do, you'll never get to kill Kouji! (_Kouichi:_ Good point.) Alright, thanks for reviewing!

_x3AnimeLuver:_ Aw, sorry about the solos and auditions and tsunamis! And I'm all good now! When next I get flamed, I shall be better prepared! (With the bazooka…) Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_13wolfsbane:_ Aw, that's cute! But don't worry Yin, your secret's safe with me! And don't be hatin' on Kouichi, just hate evil Kouichi! Yay! Alright, thanks for reviewing!

_Shadowfox94:_ Cookie bonanza! (_Dai:_ …I love you, Shadowfox94.) Yay! (_Kouichi:_ I'm not going to bother getting revenge on Madjack. I honestly don't really care what she's done.) Well, there's something both Kouichis have in common! Okay, thank you for the gracious review!

_fg1fg:_ Yay for evilness! I like both dubs and subs, I just tend to watch dubs more often. Wow, that is something Nina would say. But then, of course, she'd ruin the moment by giggling or dancing. (_Nina:_ Tee hee!) Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_RandomPersonOfDoom: _DOOOOOOOOOOOMED! (I feel like I'm in Invader Zim now!) Thanks for reviewing!

_KeikoTakishita:_ Yay, Taru has a new fan and I have a new reviewer! (_Hotaru:_ Um, thank you.) I'm glad you like the OCs! I try very hard to make them good and interesting! Alright, thank you for the review!

_twilight'sfury hexer:_ It's all good! I've been having computer problems myself, so it's no big deal! I'd also never kill Tommy because he's in the prime of life! (Then again, so are the others…) Anyway, I think everybody's gonna be a little shocked by the evilness of evil Kouichi! *_lightening crashes ominously*_ Alright, thanks for reviewing! (BTW, you got it right, it is Tomoyo!)

-

_madjack89:_ Alright, time to start the chapter!

_JP:_ Wait a second, where's Shino?

_Kouichi:_ He ran away because he didn't want to face any of us after what happened last chapter and has probably already been kidnapped by Madara outside the shield and will most likely be used as a hostage in order to get Madara what he wants, a.k.a. me and Nina.

_madjack89:_ …I liked you better when you weren't evil!

_Kouichi:_ Heh…

_madjack89:_ Okay, while I sort this situation out, enjoy chapter 31!

—

Masumon's eyes opened slowly, revealing an empty cavern. She proceeded to sit up, yawning and stretching groggily as she recalled the events of the previous day.

She'd finally been rescued from her sister's clutches. Her torture had come to an end! And the Legendary Warriors had indeed returned to halt Ilsemon's crazy resurrection plans! However, one of the Legendary Warriors in particular was beginning to worry her: Kouji.

She'd found him last night in the cavern she was currently in, sobbing uncontrollably. So, she'd done the only thing she could think to do and stayed with him, trying to comfort him. He'd fallen asleep at some point and eventually, she had too. Now, however, Kouji was gone.

"He must have left before I woke up," Masumon muttered to herself. "I wonder what was wrong…"

Masumon had already picked up on Kouji's reluctance to admit his feelings and therefore hadn't asked why he'd been upset. That didn't stop her from wondering, though. And then, of course, there was his odd behavior in general.

One minute, he'd be distant and cold, then the next he'd be all over Masumon asking if she was alright. He always seemed to be staring off into space with this tortured look on his face. Masumon could tell from his friends' reactions that this melancholic behavior wasn't Kouji's norm, so what in the world was wrong with him? _Maybe Ilsemon did something to upset him…or maybe I…_

Masumon shook her head, erasing this thought. What could she have done in so short a time? She couldn't recall doing or saying anything bad to him. Then again, she'd noticed several times a pained expression cross Kouji's face when he looked at her…

Suddenly, Masumon was on her knees, trembling from the overwhelming nausea sweeping through her frame. When she managed to think of something other than pain, she remembered the strange feeling she'd had yesterday around one of the Legendary Warriors…a darkness…

Masumon gasped, recognition crossing her features. "Kouichi!"

—

"Guys, Zoe and Shino just left the tunnels and went topside!" Kouichi exclaimed, rushing into the cavern occupied by the rest of the gang.

"What?" Takuya said, shocked that Zoe would do that after what happened last time.

"Doesn't she ever learn?" JP added exasperatedly. "Why didn't you just stop them when you saw them, anyway?"

"Nothing can stop Zoe once she's made up her mind," Kouichi explained flatly, rolling his eyes.

The others sighed, knowing this to be true. "Alright, let's go get Zoe before she gets herself AND Shino killed," Takuya stated. However, instead of leading the way out, he gestured for the rest of the gang to leave ahead of him. Taking the cue, the others left, though Kira, Dai, and Hotaru all avoided eye contact with Kouichi. Kouji didn't move an inch, head lowered.

Once the others, sans the twins, were gone, Takuya turned to Kouichi. "Hey, are you…okay?" he asked tentatively. "Last night, you seemed a little…"

"I'm sorry you had to see me like that, Takuya," Kouichi apologized suddenly, smiling sheepishly. "I was upset, and I took it out on you. But don't worry, I am definitely okay now."

Somehow, Kouichi seemed a little TOO fine to Takuya, but he decided it was best not to mention this. Instead, he muttered, "Well, if you're sure," and exited the cavern.

"I'm sure," Kouichi said to himself, smirking slightly. Before he followed Takuya, though, he turned to Kouji, who still hadn't moved.

Kouji flinched, feeling Kouichi's gaze locked on him. He couldn't look up, paralyzed by fear. He didn't want to see the look of hatred that was surely trained on him at that very moment. He couldn't…

"You coming, Ototo-chan?" Kouji jumped, startled by the friendly tone in Kouichi's voice. Then there was what Kouichi had said…

"Ototo…chan?" Kouji asked slowly, confused.

"You know, little brother," Kouichi explained, shrugging. "You've called me Nii-san before."

With that, Kouichi turned and left. Kouji, however, hesitated. "You've never called me Ototo-chan, though," he muttered to himself, feeling uneasy. Finally, he followed after his brother. "Kouichi…"

—

Two seconds. That's how long it took Zoe to recover from her initial shock, wrench her arm from Shino's grip, and proceed to shove him away from her. Then came the utter outrage.

"What the hell, Shino?!" Zoe shouted angrily, lashing out in her confusion. "What the hell do you think you're doing?! What the hell was that?! What the…?"

Zoe was poised to say more, but the look of horror on Shino's face stopped her. Her eyes slowly softened as she noticed how wide Shino's eyes were and how shocked he looked at his own actions. Then there were the tears slowly welling up in his eyes.

"Shino…" Zoe said gently, stepping forward.

Shino's gaze snapped up. When he saw Zoe, his brow creased in fear. "I…I'm sorry, Zoe," he apologized softly, reaching up to wipe the tears from his eyes. "God, I'm such an idiot…"

Zoe studied Shino closely, curiosity rising. She wanted to ask him, but she couldn't quite get the words past her lips. Why had Shino kissed her? It was so random. It didn't make any sense. Shino wouldn't just go up and kiss someone else's girlfriend, not to mention his friend's girlfriend. Besides, they didn't see each other that way. At least, Zoe didn't see Shino that way.

Suddenly, Zoe saw the acute blush on Shino's cheeks for what it really was.

"Shino." Shino looked up again, looking even more scared than before. Nevertheless, Zoe continued. "Shino, do you…like me?"

"Zee, we've got a boyfriend situation on our hands!" Both Zoe and Shino turned at the sound of Witchmon's voice. Secretly, Zoe was glad for the interruption.

"What do you mean by 'boyfriend situation'?" Zoe asked Witchmon curiously as both Dragramon and Masumon joined her. "Did Gotsumon finally get the message?"

"No, but that's not important right now!" Witchmon shouted, slightly annoyed by the mention of her nonexistent love life.

"She was talking about YOUR boyfriend," Dragramon added, looking uncharacteristically serious. "Masumon, explain to them what you sensed."

"Well," Masumon began, looking a bit uncomfortable. "I'd just like to say, first of all, that I'm so sorry I didn't tell you about this earlier, but Kouji said he was fine, but he wasn't, and I was confused…anyway, yesterday, I sensed a dark—"

"Nina!" Zoe exclaimed, interrupting Masumon's explanation. "Oh god, she didn't…oh god!"

"How do you know about Nina?" Masumon asked curiously. "I mean, we've had run-ins with her in the past, but—"

"Not important!" Zoe shouted, interrupting again. "Okay…um, maybe there's a way to…oh god, where's Kouji?"

"What about pretty boy?" Witchmon asked. "What does he have to do with Kouichi and Nina?"

"Okay, here's the deal," Zoe began. "Duskmon attacked Kouichi and made it so Nina could get to him and corrupt him and I sorta kinda forced Kouichi into telling me this but he was too self-conscious to tell the others and Nina's been trying to get control over him for days and are you telling me that she finally won, Masumon?!"

Biting her lip, Masumon nodded. "I think so. And from what you're saying, this is worse than we thought."

"Knowing Nina, she's gonna want to use Kouichi to blot out all the light she can find," Dragramon added, looking thoughtful. "Oh crap, she's gonna get him to…"

"Kill Kouji," Zoe finished, eyes wide with panic. "Where is he now?"

"Follow me," Masumon said, dashing down the tunnel. Witchmon, Dragramon, and Zoe followed after her.

Shino stared at their retreating forms for a moment, deciding whether to follow them or not. With what he'd just done, he'd probably be the next target on Kouichi's list…

But then again, that was the problem. Kouichi didn't have a list, and if he was about to do what Zoe had said he would do, they had to stop him before he committed the crime. So he trailed after the others, hoping against hope that Kouichi would never find out about the kiss.

—

Renamon walked slowly through the RMS's halls, staring off into space as she always did. There was nothing for her to do for Ilsemon, and she couldn't recall a time when she'd done something for her own amusement. So she did nothing.

"Poor little Duskmon." That is, until she heard this phrase coming from the hall to her right. Swiftly, she hid behind the wall, peering around it to reveal Ilsemon and Duskmon having a conversation. From experience, she knew that never ended well. If Duskmon would just take orders without complaint like the rest of them then the two wouldn't bicker so much.

Studying the two more closely, Renamon noticed that Ilsemon had a particularly smug expression on her face as she smiled wickedly at Duskmon. It looked as if she were winning this particular contest of wills, though Duskmon's reaction was a bit puzzling. His back was turned to Renamon, but she could see that his head was bowed. This was strange, because usually Duskmon at least faced Ilsemon when he was being reprimanded. He didn't care what she said. He never cared.

"You just can't catch a break, can you?" Ilsemon said, returning Renamon's attention to the conversation at hand. Reaching slowly toward Duskmon's face, Ilsemon continued, "You've always been everyone's toy. First Cherubimon, then Nina, and now me…"

Duskmon suddenly swatted Ilsemon's hand away, though he still didn't lift his head. "Who said I was yours?" he muttered quietly, though, Renamon noticed, not with the same spunk he usually had. "I only came to you because it was the easiest way for me to get to Kouichi. Now that I've fulfilled my duty to Nina, I'm done here."

As Renamon pondered who Nina could be, Ilsemon chuckled. "Oh Duskmon, you can be so funny sometimes! Where is it you plan on going, then? What will you do with your life now that it's finally yours? And if you were really leaving here, why did you bother stopping back? You have no friends!"

Duskmon didn't answer, which really threw Renamon for a loop. For the first time, she felt herself silently rooting for Duskmon. _Why won't you say anything? At least speak up for yourself._

"You truly are a pathetic creature, Duskmon," Ilsemon said after several moments, smirking. "You don't know what to do with yourself now that you no longer have a master. You've been left for dead, suffering alone with your own thoughts…and tortured emotions."

Renamon clamped her paw over her mouth, stifling the gasp that had almost escaped her lips. Duskmon's…emotions? She was surprised he even had emotions. Renamon knew of Duskmon's origins, of his haphazard creation as the Warrior of Darkness's corrupted form, of his Spirit being passed off to that Kouichi child, of his supposed death at the hands of the Warriors of Light and Fire, and of his mysterious resurrection. As a corrupted creature, Renamon hadn't thought Duskmon possessed a wide range of emotions. They would just get in his way, so why…

"Sadness, loneliness, guilt…it hurts, doesn't it?" Ilsemon continued smugly, walking slowly around Duskmon. "You didn't have to worry about that before. Kouichi shouldered all the emotional damage, but now that you're your own being, there is no one to take your pain away. And since you've never dealt with these emotions before, you're slowly but surely being driven to madness."

So that was it. Now that Duskmon was more than just a spirit, he had what all other creatures were born with…a conscience. And he didn't know how to deal with it. Renamon wasn't sure, but she thought she felt a slight pang of…pity. For Duskmon.

"But I think the most ironic part of all of this is that Nina believed she was setting you free," Ilsemon muttered so softly that Renamon had to strain to hear. "She thought that she was rewarding you for helping her when the truth is that she's punishing you. She was the only thing keeping these guilty memories from resurfacing, and now that she's run off to Kouichi…"

_Run off to Kouichi?_ What was that supposed to mean? Who was this Nina and what was her connection with Duskmon…and Kouichi?

Renamon was concentrating so hard on this thought that she didn't notice Ilsemon entering the hallway she stood in. "Never mind what you just heard, Renamon," Ilsemon said suddenly, startling Renamon. Smirking, Ilsemon added, "Duskmon is not a creature to be pitied," before turning and heading down the hall.

When she was out of sight, Renamon glanced around the corner to find that Duskmon was still rooted to the same spot, gaze fixed on his feet. Making a split second decision, Renamon decided to approach him. Despite what Ilsemon had said, she still couldn't help but to pity him at least a bit.

As she grew closer, one of Duskmon's eyeball appendages swiveled around in its socket until it planted its gaze on her. Biting back her revulsion at this sight, Renamon continued forward, the eyeball following her every move until she stood right in front of its owner.

"Duskmon," she began, trying to get the Digimon's attention.

After several moments of silence, he finally muttered, "What?"

Renamon cocked her head, confused by the strangled, quiet quality to Duskmon's voice when he'd spoken. Nevertheless, she continued, "Why did you let Ilsemon say those things to you? You should have stood up for yourself."

Duskmon took a shaky breath. Then he replied, "I know."

Renamon was even more confused by this response. Not only was Duskmon's voice extremely shaky, it had gone so far as to crack slightly when he'd responded to her. A moment later, Renamon asked, "What's wrong?"

"Why do you care?" Duskmon growled, eyes still fixed on the floor.

The answer to this question required some thought. Why did Renamon care? She'd felt pity for creatures before, but never like this. She'd never felt compelled to act on her impulses or to disobey Ilsemon. She'd strived for so long to hold her emotions back, but now, they seemed to be bursting forth. Because of Duskmon.

"Because someone has to," Renamon replied softly, surprising herself with the gentle quality to her voice.

It must have surprised Duskmon too, for he suddenly lifted his head, revealing the reason that his voice had been so shaky. There were tears in his eyes, spilling out onto his cheeks and rolling down his face. He was crying. Duskmon was crying.

As shocking as this was to Renamon, it couldn't compare to what happened next. Before she could recover from her shock, Duskmon had fallen to his knees, completely breaking down. As his body shook with sobs, he managed to utter weakly, "I'm bad."

Renamon watched Duskmon with wide eyes, wondering what to do. He'd just fallen apart in front of her. Duskmon had finally lost his cool.

Letting her pity overtake her, Renamon knelt down to Duskmon and tentatively wrapped her arms around him, careful to avoid touching the eyeballs. She was slightly surprised to find that he has actually warm with body heat. She'd assumed he'd be cold. Then she heard a faint _THUMP THUMP_ coming from Duskmon's chest. His heart. So he wasn't heartless after all.

Since Duskmon had fallen too far into despair to even react to her touch, Renamon muttered, "If you're bad, then so am I." Then she laid her head on his shoulder, listening to the rhythmic beating of his heart as tears began to fall and dampen her fur.

—

"Okay guys, time to split up and search," Takuya declared as Kouji finally caught up to the others outside the tunnels.

"Damn it, Zee," Kira muttered to herself. For the first time that day, she glanced at Kouichi, who had his back turned from everyone. Trying to ignore the images of Duskmon flashing nonstop through her mind, she said, "Hey Chief, did Zee happen to mention where she might be going when you saw her or something…?"

Kouichi didn't say anything for several seconds. Then, without turning, he said, "You sound a little off, Kira. Not only that, but you, Dai, and Hotaru have been avoiding eye contact with me this whole time. What's wrong?"

The three glanced guiltily at each other. "Don't worry guys, I'll tell him," Takuya said quietly, stepping forward. "Kouichi…"

Suddenly, Kouichi turned on his heel, fist raised, and punched Takuya square in the face.

Everyone else watched, shocked, as Takuya fell backward, caught by surprise by the sudden attack. Kira was the first to react, catching Takuya before he hit the ground. After checking to make sure he was okay, Kira, along with the others, turned their attention toward Kouichi.

As for Kouichi, he was staring at his still-clenched fist. "That felt pretty damn good," he muttered to himself, chuckling slightly.

"Uh, Chief?" Kira said slowly, cocking her head. "Not that I don't applaud that killer punch, but…what the hell?"

"You didn't even give Takuya a chance to do something stupid," JP added. "At least let him see it coming."

Kouichi didn't respond as Takuya glared at JP, righting himself. Smiling, he finally muttered, "You guys really can be dense sometimes. Kouji already figured it out, but the rest of you are still clueless."

Confused, the others turned to Kouji, who looked like he still hadn't gotten over his shock. He'd even gone pale. "No…"

"Yes," Kouichi replied mockingly. "It looks like you've finally pushed me too far, little brother. Not that I blame you, of course. I'm kind of a pussy when it comes to revealing my past. In fact, I'm kind of a pussy overall."

"Is Chief calling himself a pussy?" JP muttered quietly to Takuya, who nodded. Too stunned to do anything, the others could only watch, wide-eyed, as Kouichi slowly approached Kouji.

With each footfall, Kouji flinched, causing Kouichi's smirk to grow. "Afraid of me?" he asked quietly, stopping right in front of his brother.

"You're going to do it…in front of them?" Kouji asked, horrified.

"Why not?" Kouichi retorted, glancing at the others. "After all, they actually helped tip the scale."

Understanding suddenly crossed Kouji's features. "You heard us telling the others about you and Duskmon."

"Oh, that's what this is about," Takuya said suddenly, coming to the wrong conclusion. "Kouichi, I'm sorry if you're upset, but—"

"Would it kill you to just shut up, Takuya?" Kouichi snapped, interrupting Takuya.

Shocked, Takuya fell silent while Kouichi turned his attention back to Kouji. "Now, where were we?" Kouichi pondered mockingly, getting back on topic. "Oh yeah, tipping the scale. You know, Ototo-chan, this probably wouldn't have happened the way it did if you had just listened to me. I tried to tell you the truth, but all you did was push me further away from you with your stupid jealousy. When I witnessed my betrayal at the hands of the one person I always trusted unequivocally, I finally snapped."

"He wasn't trying to betray you," Dai protested.

"Shut up!" Kouichi shouted, glaring at Dai. Something about the cold look in Kouichi's eyes unsettled Dai and he quickly did as told, shutting up.

Kouichi turned back to Kouji, that hard look still in his eyes. "Well, for your information, BROTHER, it wasn't just for my sake that I wanted to confess to you last night," he whispered with malice, so that only Kouji would hear.

Kouji's eyes slowly widened as Kouichi explained, "Sure, I wanted your help, but what I really wanted was to help you. With all the pain this broken bond was causing me, I could only imagine the agony you were suffering through. That, and the whole Seiko ordeal bringing you further down into your melodramatic depression. So, out of the goodness of my heart, I decided to figure out a solution to this problem with you. Together.

"And what do I get?" Kouichi asked, smirking darkly. "You say that you won't help me, that I don't care about you, that I should go help myself. Well here's the irony, bro; I was trying to help you all along."

Kouji dropped to his knees, no longer able to stand. Kouichi had been trying to help him…and he'd refused. He hadn't even let him explain…

"You've always been pushing me away, though," Kouichi continued, staring triumphantly down at his brother. "Ever since we first me, you've been subtly trying to keep me out. The truth is, you've always been afraid of me because I'm the one person who can fully understand everything about you. And all this time I've let you push me, thinking naively that you'd come around eventually. Well, I guess now you've pushed just a little too hard, you pathetic bastard."

That was it. Kouji's limit had finally been reached. All this pain was suffocating. It was almost maddening. It was too much…too much…too…much…

"Wow, I think I drove him catatonic," Kouichi muttered, studying Kouji's sightless eyes and blank expression. "That'll make this a lot easier, huh Nina?"

"Kouichi!" Kira suddenly shouted, stepping forward. As Kouichi turned, she continued, "Look, we know about you and Duskmon now. Well, so what? It doesn't change anything. You're still you, and Dusky's still Dusky. So let's undo whatever you just did to pretty boy and—"

Suddenly, Kouichi laughed. It wasn't good-natured or cheerful, though. It was mirthless. "You guys really are stupid, you know that? I mean, do I have to spell it out for you?"

"Guys, I think this is worse than we originally thought," Hotaru muttered, eyes narrowing.

"No kidding," JP retorted, taking a nervous step backward. "Either this is a very elaborate practical joke or Chief's gone bat-shit crazy."

"I'm sorry to say it's the latter, buddy," Kouichi said, glancing at Takuya. "Hope you don't mind my using your word, Taki."

"Since when did you call me Taki?" Takuya asked warily.

Kouichi smirked. "Since when did I need permission to call my friends by their nicknames?"

"Since the bat-shit craziness," Kira replied.

"Fair enough," Kouichi said, shrugging. Then he slowly approached the group, smiling darkly. "Looks like I'll have to come right out and say it. Okay…I'm going to kill Kouji, and you guys are going to watch helplessly while I do it."

Less than a second after this phrase was spoken, a fist connected with Kouichi's face, knocking him backward. The fist in question belonged to Hotaru.

The others were momentarily stunned silent. Then Kira exclaimed, "That was awesome, Taru! Did you break his nose?"

"Not quite," Kouichi muttered, staggering to his feet while holding his bleeding lip. "Didn't quite make it to the nose."

"Wasn't aiming for the nose," Hotaru retorted, glancing at his fist. "I am pretty out of practice, though. You were supposed to fly farther back."

"Hotaru," Dai began warningly.

"I'm fine, Dai," Hotaru muttered, keeping his glare fixed on Kouichi. "If I was going to lose it, I'd have told you to run a while ago. I just need to knock some sense back into Kouichi."

Kouichi smirked. "Strong words, but do you have the guts to back them up?"

"Try me," Hotaru growled, raising his fists threateningly.

"Wait!" Tommy shouted, stepping between the two. Turning to Kouichi, he said, "You didn't really mean what you said, did you? That you're going to…kill Kouji?"

Kouichi glanced at Tommy, a mischievous glint in his eye. "Tommy; the baby of the group; the one that everyone always feels the need to protect. And you let us protect you, because deep down, you know that you haven't grown one bit. Your still the same scared little kid you were two years ago, and you won't change, no, you CAN'T change."

Tommy took a startled step back while Takuya took a step forward. "You'd better be suffering from brain damage right now, Kouichi," he growled threateningly.

"Takuya," Kouichi muttered, ignoring the threat. "The leader; the group inspiration. But all those valiant words you throw around are just that; words. You've always worn a mask around your so-called 'friends' because you don't want to admit that you're just as scared as everyone else, perhaps more so."

"W-what are you…?" Takuya stammered nervously, eyes wide.

"Okay Chief, that just about does it!" Kira said angrily, glaring at Kouichi. "You don't pick on—"

"Kira," Kouichi suddenly said, interrupting. "The 'kickass' with a bigger façade than Takuya. You act so though to hide the fact that you're just a lonely little girl that no one ever gave a damn about."

"Quit psycho-analyzing us!" Kira shouted, fuming.

"Seriously Chief, the witty bursts of incite are supposed to be my thing," JP added.

"And you're even worse!" Kouichi exclaimed, turning on JP. "Everyone always ignored you, but you act like you don't care about that, when you actually care so much that it eats you up inside, thinking that it might happen again. And who knows, maybe we will get tired of you one day."

JP's eyes slowly widened as he turned to Takuya. "Does my philosophical talk sound this assholish?" he asked.

"And then there's you two," Kouichi said, turning his attention back to Hotaru and Dai. "Wow, where do I begin with your soap opera?"

"How about you don't?!" In response to Kouichi, Hotaru's fist flew toward Kouichi's face again, this time aiming for the nose. However, this time it didn't connect.

Instead, Kouichi ducked out of the way and managed to clip Hotaru's chin with his own fist. Caught by surprise, Hotaru stumbled back, earning a shocked gasp from Kira.

"Did Chief just dodge a punch…from Taru?" she muttered, completely stunned. "Holy crap…"

"Holy crap is right," Kouichi agreed thoughtfully, chuckling. "I'm more badass than I thought!"

"You won't dodge the next one," Hotaru growled, a mad glint in his eye.

"Hotaru!" Dai shouted, stepping in front of his cousin. In an even voice, he continued, "Calm down. We don't need two people going insane right now."

"Insane is kind of a harsh word, don't you think?" Kouichi commented, smirking. "I'd say I've just become…accepting."

The others gave Kouichi blank looks. Sighing, he explained, "I've been spending all this time pointing out your flaws when I'm probably the most flawed of all of us. And I've finally realized why everything crappy always happens to me; because I wouldn't accept my nature.

"I'm the Warrior of Darkness, yet I was always running away from my own element. I was almost afraid of it, for God's sake! But I'm not hiding behind Kouji anymore. I refuse to hide in the light. I've accepted the fact that I belong in darkness, and I always have."

"So instead of running from the darkness, you're running from the light?" Hotaru commented coolly, regaining his composure. "Still sounds pretty cowardly to me."

"You would know, Mr. Firefly," Kouichi retorted, causing Hotaru to flinch. "You're always running away from yourself, too. You can't accept your dark side either, but you can't remain stably in the light, because deep down, you're just as bad as you were back then…"

"Shut the hell up!" Dai suddenly exclaimed angrily. "Oh, you made me cuss!"

The others, along with Kouichi, gave Dai shocked looks. Recovering first, Kouichi smirked. "I've never heard you cuss, Dai."

"I don't cuss unless I'm really angry or the situation calls for it," Dai explained through his teeth. "This counts for both."

"First I get Hotaru mad and now Dai?!" Kouichi said incredulously, eyebrows raised. "You guys sure are turning on me fast. I thought it would take longer than this." To himself, he added, "You were right all along, Nina."

"We're not turning on you, Kouichi," Takuya said firmly, stepping forward. "We wanted to help you, so we told the others about Duskmon. That's all."

Kouichi lowered his head and silence followed for several minutes. Then he muttered just loud enough for the others to hear, "I'm dead to you. All of you. I've been corrupted, but this time, you can't save me. If you want Kouji to live, you'll have to kill me."

At that point, Kouichi lifted his head, revealing the evil glint in his eye. Now it was fully visible to the others. Kouichi was gone, and this time, he wasn't coming back.

Staring at the gang's anguish from losing him, Kouichi smirked. "But you won't kill me. Now, to quote from F2HF, 'step aside, you're blocking the way to my wimpy, pathetic brother.'"

"Stop…in the name of love!"

Confused and startled by this statement, everyone turned to find Witchmon, Dragramon, Masumon, Zoe, and Shino standing a few feet away. Half of them were glaring at Kouichi, while the other half looked horrified.

Witchmon, the one who had spoken, realized the others were staring at her and smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, couldn't resist the reference. But seriously, that's as far as you go, Kouichi."

"Or should we say Nina," Dragramon added, flexing her claws.

"You know about…?" Kouichi muttered, staring wide-eyed at the three Digimon before him. "Oh, crap and a half."

—

_madjack89:_ Good news, guys! We got Shino back! And he promised not to do something stupid like that again! (At least not in the commentaries…)

_Shino:_ …Madara's scary.

_madjack89:_ I hope you've learned a valuable lesson!

_Shino:_ I sure did. If I'm ever in trouble, I'm calling Kisame.

_Kisame:_ Heck yeah!

_madjack89:_ Oh yeah, Kisame's here now.

_Takuya: *glaring suspiciously at Kisame*_ That stupid shark better keep his hands off Kira…

_madjack89:_ Uh, let me explain. You see, after Shino left the safety of the shield, he was instantly kidnapped by Madara…

_Shino:_ I wouldn't say instantly.

_madjack89:_ INSTANTLY KIDNAPPED BY MADARA…

_Shino:_ Fine, whatever.

_madjack89:_ …and was held hostage outside the shield. Then Madara got a megaphone and said he'd give Shino back if I gave him Kouichi and Nina. I said no, then he said he'd kill Shino, then I said I'd like to see him try, then he almost killed Shino, then Dai ate a cookie, then I told Madara to give me more time to think about it, and then he gave me fifteen minutes before he would really kill Shino.

_Shino:_ He was actually pretty nice about it. He let me write my last will and everything.

_madjack89:_ After that, we were all trying to come up with ideas to get Shino back when Kira suddenly remembered that Kisame had given her his number the last time we'd gone to one of TobiGB's parties.

_Kira:_ It took us awhile to convince Taki to let me call him, though.

_Kisame: *staring at Kira longingly*_

_Takuya:_ Hey, keep your eyes off her chest!

_Kira: *sigh*_

_madjack89:_ So we called Kisame and asked him to help us stop Madara. I still can't believe this actually happened, but Kisame managed to sneak up on Madara, hit him over the head with his sword, knock him out, and grab Shino and run back into the safety of the shield completely unscathed.

_Kisame:_ Not bad, huh Ranamon?

_Takuya:_ Her name is Kira!

_madjack89:_ Anyway, in exchange for Kisame's services, Kira agreed to go out to dinner with him, and Takuya's going nuts over it.

_Takuya:_ If he does anything, even touches her, I'll kill him!

_Kisame:_ Like you could.

_Takuya: *fumes*_

_madjack89:_ So all's well that ends well!

_JP:_ Wait, where's Chief?

_madjack89:_ Oh, I let TobiGB borrow him!

_Everyone else: _WHAAAAAAAAAT?!

_Takuya:_ After all we went through to keep him here, you gave him away?!

_madjack89:_ We were keeping him away from Madara. I trust TobiGB. Besides, he gave me someone else in exchange!

_Neji: *slowly wakes up and realizes he's in a crate*_ Crap.

_madjack89:_ Yay Neji!

_Neji:_ Double crap.

_Sasori:_ Welcome to our hell.

_Pein:_ We've got cookies.

_Dai:_ Yay cookies!

_Neji: *sighs*_

_madjack89:_ Okay, that about wraps everything up! See ya next chapter!


	32. Ch 32: Ellie

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 32: Ellie**

_madjack89:_ Howdy guys! Today I have a very special group joining me in the commentaries. They're villainous curs you sometimes enjoy putting curses upon in your reviews: the evil Frontier 02 gang! Say hi, guys!

_Nina:_ What up, dogs?

_Duskmon:_ Uh…yeah. Hi.

_Impmon:_ Hey there! How ya doin'?

_Hallucimon:_ That sounded really Brooklyny.

_Impmon:_ Aw, shut up, you!

_Wizardmon: _This will not end well.

_Ilsemon:_ That's why we're villains. We automatically screw everything up.

_Wizardmon: *sigh*_

_Renamon: *not even paying attention*_

_madjack89:_ Oh, and since Sasori and Pein are villains too, I let them out of their cage today to join in the fun!

_Pein:_ …Woohoo.

_Sasori:_ Sadly, I've lost all motivation to even try to run away at this point. It would be a hopeless struggle.

_madjack89:_ That's the spirit!

_Sasori: *sigh*_

_Neji: _Madjack, I'm not a villain. Why am I still here?

_madjack89:_ Because you're Neji Hyuga!

_Neji:_ …That doesn't make any sense.

_Wizardmon:_ First rule of Frontier 02: Madjack rarely makes sense. You just have to roll with the punches.

_Neji:_ They'd better not be literal punches.

_Impmon:_ Well, Kira ain't here, so we should be fine.

_Pein:_ Speaking of which, isn't she currently on that date with Kisame?

_madjack89:_ Yup!

_Sasori:_ Heh, I wonder how that's going.

_madjack89:_ We'll talk about that next chapter. Right now, we're gonna concentrate on the winners of the popularity poll I did for you guys!

_Duskmon:_ Well, that explains why we're here.

_Ilsemon:_ What exactly does the winner of this poll receive, Madjack?

_madjack89:_ A super-duper mystery prize that I'll give to the winner during the end commentary!

_Ilsemon:_ In that case, I've already gotten the prize since nearly every villain here works for me!

_Nina:_ Yeah right! Me and Dusky so totally pwn the rest of you noobs!

_Duskmon:_ Nina, are you on crack today?

_Nina: *giggle*_ Maybe…

_Sasori:_ Oh look, it's time for reviews.

*break* (sorry, couldn't get the line to show up)

_garnettfox:_ (_Duskmon:_ Everyone's going to be hugging me now, aren't they?) Pretty much. Anyway, I hope you like the fight scene and yes, I'd love a description of Darkgramon, if you'd be so kind! Alright, thanks for reviewing!

_fg1fg:_ (_Kouichi:_ Madjack tortures us in her stories and toys with our emotions in order to escape the monotony of everyday life. In short, she's crazy.) _*glares*_ Meanie. (_Kouichi:_ Just giving the readers what they want.) Yeah…anyway, if you thought the last chapter was long, just look at THIS one! (lol) Thanks for reviewing!

_TobiGB:_ Go away, Madara! No one wants you! (_Nina:_ Actually…) Quiet, Nina! (_Nina: _Humph!) I'm glad you liked the chapter, and thanks for the review and the cake! Me wuffles Crispin!

_Aldamonburst:_ Oh Kaito, you silly child! And stop beating Donald up, Sasuke! Thanks for the review, Burst!

_13wolfsbane:_ (_Hotaru:_ I'm alright, Yin. I've had worse.) Hotaru, go away! Villains only! (_Hotaru:_ Okay, okay… *_leaves*_) I kinda hate to make Kouji seem like such a pussy, but he has been under a lot of stress lately, and his mind is sorta starting to unwind a little. (Heh!) Sure you can come, Yin! Join the party! (_Sasori:_ No, she deceives! Don't come!) Shut up, Sasori! Anyway, thanks for reviewing, 13!

_Shadowfox94:_ Well, Kouichi's pretty observant, so it was mostly his own observations, no Nina needed! Speaking of Nina, where do you think she gets her insanity from? (lol) (_Duskmon:_ Me helping those brats? Not likely.) *_sigh*_ We'll keep working on this one. I'll give Dai the cookies; you don't need to sneak them. As for Gatomon, she'll actually be back in the next arc. (Heh heh…) Thanks for reviewing!

_61wisampa:_ I'm glad I cleared up your confusion when I first got this review, or you'd have been confused for awhile! (lol) Yeah, Witchmon's a mood breaker, but that's why I love her! I'm glad you liked the chapter despite the slight confusion! Thanks for reviewing!

_Kirae-Remi:_ (_Kouichi: *glares*_) Put the D-Tector down, Kouichi. (_Kouichi: *puts away grudgingly*_) Wow, DemiDevimon-sh*t crazy? You are hyper! (lol) Thanks for the crazy review! (_Renamon: *glances at addition and blushes slightly*_)

_beybladeingninjaprincess:_ (_Duskmon:_ I don't cry out of every eye I have. The others are more…ornamental.) But you can see out of them. (_Duskmon:_ Hey, shut up.) *_sigh*_ Want to go to school, guys? (_Kouichi:_ Not particularly.) (_Nina:_ Yeah, sounds like fun!) Oh, don't worry, Kouji will be back to his little Kouji self soon enough, just wait! Taki did need to get punched, didn't he? Thanks for the review! Bye Itachi! (_Itachi:_ -_-)

_KeikoTakishita:_ (_Kouichi:_ Yes, yes I am.) Shino thanks you for your concern and Hotaru thanks you for the compliments. Seiko/Kouji will probably stay pretty one-sided for awhile, but who knows? Thanks for reviewing!

_GoldenDragon326:_ (_Nina:_ Oh, thanks for the vote!) Let's see…Kouji says that about Kouichi in chapter 16 of F2HF, so it's quite ironic! Is that a reference to Sailor Moon? I was referencing a song. (lol) And yes, Madara is a character from Naruto. Thanks for reviewing!

_silver fire wolf:_ Oh, cool new name! Anyway, I can kind of understand having a hatred of girls, Husky. Sometimes I hate us, too. (lol) Thanks for the review!

_shadica:_ (_Duskmon: *sigh*_ More hugging…) Oh, get over it, Dusky! Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_RandomPersonOfDoom:_ Indeed! (lol) Thanks!

_twilight'sfury hexer:_ (_Kouichi:_ As they say, it's always the nice ones.) Actually, the saying is it's always the quiet ones. (_Kouichi:_ I know what I said.) *_sigh*_ Anyway, I'm not ready to get rid of Shino, so he shall not die…yet! (Heh heh…) Wow, a disease-ridden school. That's sucks. (Especially since they sent you homework anyway!) Thanks for reviewing!

_ArtGoddes9:_ Wow, these are cool! Thank you so much! And looks like Shino's got a fan! Yay! Thanks for the sweets for Dai and the bomber! (Heh heh heh…) And thanks for reviewing!

_InstantLOCURA(DontOpenUntil12):_ Heh, I do like Naruto, so maybe that concept happened subconsciously! Well, Nina is pretty crazy, so I guess you're right! (_Nina:_ Tee hee hee!) Oh geez, I've seen those Soul Eater characters before, and they look creepy! Run! Oh, and thanks for reviewing! *_runs*_

_Zanzibar1:_ Kouichi's turning into Lowemon since Duskmon has his own body now! Thanks for reviewing!

_Felicity Taylor:_ Oh no, the new reviewer discovered my secret plan! (lol) Hooray, another KouichixZoe lover! And wow, Taru's been getting really popular lately! At first no one cared about him at all! (lol) Thanks for giving me your opinion, and thanks for the review!

*break*

_Sasori:_ Hey guys, I've got an idea. Let's play pin the tail on Neji.

_Neji:_ What? Why?

_Sasori:_ Because it would be fun.

_Duskmon:_ You know, that does sound like fun.

_Ilsemon:_ I've even got some needles we can use.

_Pein:_ We should get him drunk too so he doesn't try any of that rotation crap.

_Neji:_ Madjack, do something! I'm your favorite character in Naruto, right?

_madjack89:_ That's true, you and Lee do share special places in my heart…how about this. You guys can use tape instead of needles to pin the tail on Neji!

_Neji: *eyes wide with disbelief*_

_Pein:_ The rest of you hold him down while I pour the booze down his throat.

_Wizardmon:_ Hey Kouichi, you've joined the dark side. Come on over here and party with us.

_Kouichi: *reading book in corner*_ Um, no. Strangely, I have no desire to intoxicate a minor and then try to pin a tail on him.

_Wizardmon: *shrugs*_ Your loss.

_madjack89:_ Alright, I'll announce the poll winners during the end commentary! Enjoy chapter 32!

_Nina: *singing and spinning in circles*_ You can't stop the beat!

_Kouichi:_ What, did she get hopped up on hairspray?

_Nina: *singing*_ Good morning, Baltimore!

_Kouichi:_ That's a yes. _*returns to reading book*_

—

"Too slow!" Dragramon admonished, dodging JagerLowemon as he lunged for her. Masumon, Shino, Witchmon, and Zoe managed to dodge as well, Zoe with some prodding from Shino and Witchmon.

JagerLowemon quickly slid to a halt, whipping around to face Dragramon. "Go away now," he growled threateningly, eyes blazing.

"No can do, Chief," Dragramon replied, eyes softening slightly. "If I let you kill your brother, you'll never be able to forgive yourself and we'll lose you."

"I'd be better off lost then," JagerLowemon retorted.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't talking to Nina," Dragramon said, the hardness returning to her features. Tauntingly, she added, "Isn't it sad that you still have to bring all your companions down to your level?"

In response, JagerLowemon lunged again, once more flying past a slightly faster Dragramon. "Oh, so close!" she teased mockingly.

"Digital bitch," JagerLowemon cursed, clearly annoyed. A dark aura began to pulsate around him as he fixed his cold glare on the little dragon.

Turning her head away, Dragramon muttered, "You really sicken me, Nina. You took this nice, decent kid and tainted him with your…well, yuckiness. I've been watching these kids to make sure they're up to snuff, and I'm convinced that they're gonna save the world, both from you and Ilsemon. But as much as I believe that to be true…"

While Dragramon was making this speech, her body had begun to glow with data. JagerLowemon watched cautiously as the data cleared a moment later, revealing a dragon nearly three times the size of Dragramon, though it had similar features. The biggest difference between the two was the scar across this Digimon's muzzle.

Grinning toothily, Drakemon finished her earlier statement. "…these kids need a truckload of help!"

Staring up at the large dragon looming over him, JagerLowemon muttered, "No offense, Nina, but this plan is really beginning to suck."

"Dragon Strike-out!" Suddenly, Drakemon's massive tail became plated in silver as she swung it toward JagerLowemon. It hit its target and sent JagerLowemon flying into a collision with a large tree.

Rising shakily back to his feet, JagerLowemon growled furiously. Then he attacked back. "Ebony Blast!"

"Oh god!" Zoe cried, covering her eyes so as not to witness her boyfriend's drastic changes in behavior any longer. "Oh god, Kouichi!"

As shocked as Shino also was by Kouichi, Zoe's reaction captured his attention more. Seeing her so anguished made Shino long to wrap his arms comfortingly around her and take her pain away…but he knew he'd never be able to do anything like that again. He couldn't trust himself around Zoe. Not anymore.

Fortunately, Masumon was soon crouched next to Zoe, placing her hand soothingly on Zoe's shoulder. "Calm down, Zoe," she said gently. "Everything is going to be fine. You'll see."

"Everything will be fine?" Zoe repeated, smiling bitterly. "More like everything's gone to complete crap. I left him alone for two seconds and now…Kouichi's gone!"

With this, Zoe buried her face in her hands, unable to hold back her tears any longer.

Masumon waited a moment, allowing Zoe to rid herself of her initial grief. When she was slightly composed, Masumon continued, "Everything will be fine because I can help Kouichi. I know a way to bring him back."

Both Zoe's and Shino's eyes widened in astonishment. "You can bring Kouichi back?" Zoe asked tentatively.

Masumon nodded. "Yes."

"So if we'd just gone to you first instead of going to Kouji, you could easily have helped him then and there?" Zoe asked flatly.

"Um, most likely," Masumon replied, confused by Zoe's tone.

Zoe paused before saying, "I hate you, Madjack." (Don't hate me! Hate the irony!)

"Aw, don't get all upset over that," Witchmon suddenly said, popping up on Zoe's other side. "Masumon'll find a way to fix Kouichi right up. In the meantime, though, I should go help Dragra sedate his evil counterpart."

With that statement, Witchmon stood and produced an old wooden broomstick from beneath her cloak. "Haven't used this baby in awhile," she muttered, sitting herself sidesaddle on her broom. "Let's see how she flies!"

As Witchmon slowly lifted from the ground, Shino stated, "That's probably one of the most stereotypical things I've ever seen."

"At least my attacks don't involve projectile leaf boogers!" Witchmon retorted, zooming toward the scuffle taking place a few feet away.

Scowling, Shino tore his gaze away from the fight to see if the rest of the gang, whom he'd seen with Kouichi earlier, was alright. However, the surrounding area was vacant save one person sitting on his knees.

"Guys, I think something's wrong with Kouji," Shino informed the other two, noticing his friend's blank expression.

The three quickly rushed to Kouji to discern what had happened. Upon inspection, Kouji seemed to be frozen in place, limbs stiff and rigid. His eyes were wide, yet unfocused and dull, staring at nothing.

Wasting no time, Zoe crouched down in front of Kouji and began to shake him gently by the shoulders. When this produced no response, she shook harder. "Kouji, snap out of it!"

"What's wrong with him?" Masumon asked, worried by the dead look in Kouji's eyes.

"Looks like he'd gone catatonic, kind of like Keiko from Yu Yu Hakusho," Shino explained ponderingly. "Maybe we should call him names. That worked for Yusuke."

"Wake up you pin-headed, pain-in-the-ass pretty boy!" Zoe shouted, but to no avail.

"Wow," Shino muttered, amazed. "You sure know how to insult people when you really try."

"Trust me, I've been biting my tongue around his kid for years," Zoe retorted, going back to shaking her friend. "Please Kouji, wake up!"

"Wait!" Masumon suddenly exclaimed, startling the other two. Lowering her voice, she continued, "Sorry, but I think I might know how to wake Kouji up. I saw someone do this on youtube the other day and it worked for them, but…"

"Then go for it!" Zoe interrupted, eyes pleading. "I don't want to lose Kouji, too."

Masumon's eyes lit up with determination, fueled by both Zoe's concern and her own. "Stand aside. I'll take care of this."

Zoe and Shino quickly stepped back, curious as to what Masumon would do. She began by crouching down directly in front of Kouji. Then she closed her eyes, took a deep, calming breath, and…

"Show some emotion!" She slapped Kouji across the face as hard as she could.

Zoe's, Shino's, and Kouji's eyes all widened in astonishment. "What the hell was that for?" Kouji exclaimed angrily, jumping to his feet. However, he was quickly diffused when he noticed Masumon sitting at his feet, head lowered.

"I'm sorry, but you were…" she mumbled apologetically.

"No no no!" Kouji quickly responded, waving his arms hastily and blushing. (KPBS: 1) "What is that?" (Koujipwned by Seiko!) "I'll kill you, Madjack!" (Yeah yeah yeah…)

"Wait," Kouji said, suddenly noticing Zoe's and Shino's anxious looks. "What's going on? And why are we out in the open like this?"

"We think you were out of it for a little bit," Shino explained slowly, stepping forward. "Do you remember anything that happened before now?"

"Not really," Kouji pondered, helping Masumon as she got to her feet (which puzzled Masumon since she thought he was still mad at her). "It's kind of fuzzy, but I think we were looking for you two because Kouichi said you ran off…we came out here…then Kouichi…"

The sudden realization hit Kouji like a bullet to the chest. His eyes filled with pain as he recalled what he'd been responsible for doing to his brother. "Where…?"

"Looks like nap time is over." Kouji, along with the others, turned to see JagerLowemon staring pensively at them or, more accurately, at Kouji.

Smirking, he continued, "I'm actually glad you snapped out of it. After all, what fun would it have been to kill you without giving you a fighting chance?"

"I won't fight you now," Kouji growled softly, glaring at what Kouichi had become. "You'd get too much satisfaction from it."

"Oh, you'll fight me," JagerLowemon assured tauntingly. "You'll want to kill me, in fact, because I'm your responsibility."

"Quit monologuing and fight!" Drakemon suddenly exclaimed, slamming into JagerLowemon from the side and bowling him over. While he lay on the ground, Witchmon dropped down from above, fist cocked back.

"Super-duper-Marcus-Damon-punch-of-death!" Witchmon exclaimed, extending her arm…and missing JagerLowemon as he rolled quickly out of the way.

"OWWWW!" The others flinched when Witchmon slammed into the ground and began to roll around, gripping her injured hand.

"You okay, Witchy?" Drakemon asked anxiously, bounding over to her friend's side.

In response, Witchmon raised her other arm, summoning her broom, which had been floating lazily in the air, and hopping onto it. "I've got another arm," she replied, zooming toward JagerLowemon with Drakemon in tow.

"He's right." The others attention was brought back to Kouji when he uttered this. They'd been so preoccupied with the ensuing fight that they hadn't noticed Kouji's reaction to Kouichi's comments. But they definitely did now.

Kouji was carefully shielding his eyes from view, but the rest of his features were visible, particularly his clenched jaw. His fists were also clenched and his trembling made it seem like he was holding back his emotions as best he could but was slowly losing the struggle.

"He's completely right," Kouji continued, voice shaking slightly. "He's my responsibility. I yelled at him for no good reason, then I betrayed his secret, stupidly thinking it would fix things. It didn't fix anything!"

"Kouji," Zoe began.

"And it was because I was envious of you, Zoe," Kouji muttered, ignoring her statement. "I just wanted Kouichi for myself. But that wasn't fair to either of you.

"And now all I want to do is make everything right, but it's too late because I killed Kouichi!" Kouji finished, taking a deep breath as tears rolled down his cheeks.

"You can make everything right, you know," Masumon suddenly stated, startling everyone.

After a moment, Kouji asked quietly, "W-what?"

Masumon smiled gently, moved by Kouji's wide-eyed, vulnerable look. _A side of him that he doesn't like to show_, she pondered. "Would you like to save your brother, Kouji?"

"Duh!" Kouji, Zoe, and Shino all answered at the same time.

Stifling a giggle, Masumon went on to explain her plan. "Okay, here's the deal. Nina has taken over and corrupted Kouichi with darkness. The opposite of darkness is light. So, it stands to reason that we'd be able to bring him back with light."

"So Kouji can bring him back?" Zoe asked anxiously.

"Sort of," Masumon replied, looking sheepish. "Normally in these situations, I could easily handle Nina's shenanigans. But from what I've seen of this fight, it won't have a swift conclusion despite Witchmon's and Dragramon's best efforts, though they are super fighters. I can't do anything until he's subdued since I'm not really built for combat. I'm a bit of a pacifist."

"So what do we do?" Zoe asked, growing impatient.

"I'm getting there," Masumon reassured gently. Turning to Kouji, she continued, "The quickest way to save Kouichi is for me to lend you some of my power. What you'll do with it will be explained afterwards."

"What do you mean by what I'll do with it?" Kouji asked, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

Masumon looked down guiltily. Then, partially to avoid Kouji's question, she said, "Do you trust me, Kouji?"

The question seemed so ridiculous to Kouji that his eyes widened in surprise. Remembering quickly that Masumon didn't recall the relationship they'd had, he turned his head to hide his pained expression and muttered, "Yes."

"Then trust that this will all work out!" Suddenly, Masumon's hand glowed with an intense white light. She thrust said hand toward Kouji before any questions could be asked, placing it over his heart. Kouji, eyes wide with confusion, stared at Masumon's hand as a warm, tingling sensation overtook him.

A moment later, he slumped over, suddenly losing consciousness. He was quickly caught by Masumon before he hit the ground, however.

"What just happened?" Zoe exclaimed, rushing forward to help Masumon support Kouji's weight.

"He'll be okay," Masumon said quickly, though it seemed as if she was trying to convince herself of this fact as much as Zoe, eyes shining with worry. "He can do this. Ellie will help him…"

While Masumon and Zoe dealt with Kouji, Shino's attention drifted back to the fight, which had begun to turn in JagerLowemon's favor.

"Gotcha!" JagerLowemon exclaimed, finally managing to catch one of his claws on Witchmon's cloak. Before she could tear herself free, JagerLowemon had her pinned to the ground, her broom hanging uselessly in midair.

"Witchy!" Drakemon cried, dashing forward to tackle Witchmon's captor.

"Come one step closer and I kill her," JagerLowemon threatened, raising his paw above Witchmon's face.

Drakemon quickly paused in her attack, shaking with frustration and anger. "You are so lucky I'm not blaming YOU for this, Chief!"

"Yeah right," JagerLowemon scoffed, turning back to his captive. "Now, what to do with a troublesome pest like you?"

Though she'd put on her usual flippant front, Witchmon truly was shaken by Kouichi's behavior. Up front it was worse, especially since she was staring straight into JagerLowemon's cold gaze.

"Kouichi," Witchmon muttered, shifting uncomfortably. "Snap out of it. This isn't you, despite your bullshitting about this being your nature."

Witchmon expected some sort of witty, badass retort. What she got was entirely different.

JagerLowemon's eyes actually widened in surprise, his cocky air slipped slightly, and, Witchmon noted, he looked like himself momentarily. "You heard me," he muttered.

"You mean what you said to the others earlier?" Witchmon asked, tilting her head. "Yeah, we did. We kind of bided our time…"

"She heard me," JagerLowemon said to himself, ignoring Witchmon. "I though if I didn't…yeah, I know it's different now, Nina! You can't blame a guy for trying…"

_Is he talking about…Zee?_ Witchmon thought, perplexed. Surely he didn't still care about Zoe in this state…or did he?

Puzzled, Witchmon watched as JagerLowemon stole a glance over at Zoe, who he hadn't looked at yet, she realized. His eyes narrowed when he noticed Kouji's limp form in Masumon's and Zoe's arms. "For the love of god, what happened to him now?"

Suddenly, something leaped out of the trees and slammed into JagerLowemon while he was distracted, knocking him to the ground. In the next instance, Agunimon had Witchmon slung over his shoulder, preparing to jump into the air. "Now!"

Agunimon leaped and an onslaught of various attacks came from five different directions among the trees, all aiming for JagerLowemon. Everyone watched in awe as the attacks collided with their target, creating a mini-explosion.

Agunimon landed as the dust and data cleared, revealing an injured Kouichi crouched on his hands and knees in the middle of a small crater of broken earth.

"Yes, it worked! Take that, Kouji!" Witchmon fell unceremoniously to the ground as Agunimon performed a celebratory fist pump, forgetting she had still been draped over his shoulder. She glared at her rescuer as he turned to Kouichi and said, "Looks like I got the _jump_ on you, Chief!"

"That…was a horrible pun," Kouichi managed to utter before collapsing, laying facedown in the dirt.

"Kouichi!" Zoe cried, rushing forward before Shino could stop her. Ranamon, however, did.

"Hold it, Zee," she said sternly, grabbing Zoe's arm. Before Zoe could argue, she added, "Just give us some time to uncrazify Chief, and then you can hug and kiss and whatnot. Okay?"

Zoe still wanted to go to Kouichi but knew Ranamon's logic was sound. "Fine," she muttered in defeat, stomping back to Kouji and Masumon.

"Good Zee," Ranamon said with a smile, turning back to the rest of the gang, all of whom had gathered around Kouichi.

"Well damn," Beetlemon muttered, staring incredulously at the defeated Kouichi. "I can't believe Takuya's original hare-brained scheme of attack all at once actually worked."

"I told you all it needed was minor tweaking!" Agunimon proclaimed.

"Yeah!" Kumamon agreed, slapping high-fives with Agunimon.

"Um, why did our attacks explode?" Mercurymon wondered aloud.

"Anime law #11: Everything explodes," Grumblemon explained. "Didn't you read the handbook, Taru?"

_Damn…it…_ Kouichi thought weakly, fighting to stay at least semi-conscious. He couldn't quite hear the conversations around him clearly, but he knew that the others were sealing his fate. _They really will…kill me._

_~No they won't! No one's taking MY kitty away again!~_ Kouichi smirked, glad that SOMEONE still cared about him. It made him wonder why he'd hated Nina in the first place. She wasn't evil, just misunderstood…

_~Hang on, kitty!~_ Even Nina's voice sounded far away now…

_~I'll just have to unlock your power, then!~_

Suddenly, a blast of dark energy emitted from Kouichi's D-Tector, causing the others to jump back and shield their eyes against its intensity. When they opened them again, everything was pitch black.

"Oh, c'mon!" Agunimon cried in exasperation. "Why do my plans always go wrong?"

"Aw, it's okay, Taki!" Ranamon yelled back. "I mean, Chief's still down for the count, right?"

"Wrong."

—

"This is so stupid," Duskmon mumbled, hanging his head. "How do you live like this?"

"We ignore it," Renamon replied, staring at her paws resting on her knees. "At least I do."

"Well it's stupid," Duskmon repeated, covering his face self-consciously. He was still embarrassed about his whole crying episode, especially since someone had been there to witness it. Strangely, though, he hadn't wanted Renamon to leave, and he still didn't. He'd barely ever talked to her before, but now he was practically baring his soul and it actually felt…good.

"It's odd," Renamon suddenly muttered, resting her head back against the wall. "To literally be without a conscience. I couldn't imagine that."

Duskmon chuckled bitterly. "I've been that way ever since my creation. After all, I was meant to be a heartless killing machine. Now…" Duskmon shuddered. "I don't even want to think of the things I've done."

"A heartless killing machine," Renamon repeated to herself, closing her eyes. "I suppose that's what I'm meant to be as well."

"What do you mean?" Duskmon asked, cocking his head in confusion. It wasn't as if Renamon had the highest body count of Ilsemon's subordinates or anything. In fact, Duskmon had never actually seen Renamon kill anything before. He usually ended up being Ilsemon's hit man.

Renamon took a moment to answer, eyes still closed. "I was raised by Ilsemon from the time I was an In-Training Digimon. She came to the school I was attending, looking for a Digimon she'd heard of with my special abilities. When my teacher wouldn't give me up, Ilsemon killed her in front of us.

"Scared out of their wits, my classmates gave me up to her, so on a whim, she let them live. Ilsemon quickly began molding my mind, filling me with contempt for my unfaithful classmates.

"Finally, filled with hate and the ability to evolve to my Rookie level, I returned to my school and murdered every Digimon there, then demolished the school. I realize now that getting me to do this was Ilsemon's plan all along, just to make sure I stained my paws with blood. It worked, and now I belong to her.

"After that, I became frozen," Renamon concluded, voice remaining expressionless. "I closed off my emotions and followed Ilsemon's orders explicitly, waiting for the day when she will finally use my abilities for her ultimate goals."

"What makes you think she has a plan for you?" Duskmon asked, slightly shocked by Renamon's story. He hadn't thought her life had been so hard. He'd just assumed she was silent and broody by nature.

Renamon opened an eye and glanced at Duskmon. "Ilsemon always has a plan for everything…and everyone."

"Then why bother with me?" Duskmon wondered aloud. "I don't have any special abilities, so why keep me around? What purpose could that bitch possibly have for me?"

"She probably just wants to torment you and drive you insane," Renamon replied truthfully, shutting her eye again. "Insanity's always been an object of fascination for her."

"So that's it then," Duskmon muttering, resignation creeping into his tone. "I'll be driven to madness, I'll suffer a slow, painful death, and no one will care. Actually, everyone will probably celebrate it. It's a fitting end, I suppose, for a creature that wasn't even meant to exist."

Renamon's head suddenly snapped toward Duskmon, determination lighting her eyes. "You won't die like that. I won't let that happen, even if I have to conceal you from Ilsemon. I promise."

Duskmon's eyes widened in astonishment as he felt something surge in his chest, another unfamiliar emotion. Hope. "Uh…thank you."

"Yes," Renamon said, smiling slightly in a way she'd never smiled before. "Anything for a friend."

—

Kouji's eyes shot open and instantly closed again when he was nearly blinded by the intense white light (Blinded by the light!) surrounding him on all sides. He realized that he was lying on his back but didn't dare try to look around again, as he still saw extremely bright light shining through his eyelids.

"Oh gosh, that's too bright, isn't it? Hang on, I'll dim it a little!"

Kouji tentatively opened his eyes a second time, finding that the light was bearable now. Sitting up, he realized that he was floating in a vast white space.

"Is that better?" Kouji turned, hearing the same high-pitched, girly voice he'd heard earlier.

Behind him stood a girl that looked, but definitely wasn't, his age. Her short hair was snow white and pulled into two pigtails. She had a very graceful build with slender legs that could be seen thanks to her short yellow dress covered in flower patterns. To go with the light summer dress, she wore tan flip-flops with a yellow flower on each toe strap.

Kouji didn't notice any of this. He was too preoccupied with the girl's large, light blue eyes. They were like staring up at a perfect blue sky, only a thousand times more dazzling. Her eyes were what made Kouji realize that the girl was much older, wiser, and more powerful than she looked. Kouji tried to look away but couldn't and soon found he didn't want to. He'd rather lose himself in these eyes…

"Kouji, wake up!" Kouji quickly snapped out of his trance, feeling a bit light-headed. (Pun!)

The girl helped him slowly to his feet, looking sheepish. "Sorry about that," she apologized. "My eyes sometimes have that effect, whether I want them to or not. Are you alright?"

Kouji nodded, glancing curiously at the strange girl. "Who are you?"

"Well, my name's Ellie," the girl said. "You've sort of met my sister, Nina."

"Nina?" Kouji automatically stiffened at the mention of that name. "Wait. If she's your sister, then you must be…"

"Yup!" Ellie said, smiling brightly. "I'm Light, and you are indirectly my warrior. Nice to meet you!"

"Um, yeah," Kouji mumbled, feeling a little unnerved by Ellie's cheeriness. "Uh, I guess that—"

"Masumon sent you here," Ellie finished, expression suddenly hardening. "You want my help in saving your brother from my sister, right?"

"Yes, please!" Kouji begged, bowing his head. "I know he's the Warrior of Darkness and probably not your favorite person right now, but he's my brother. If there is anything that you can do to help him, I'm begging you to do it because without Kouichi, I'll…I'll…"

Ellie suddenly placed a finger to Kouji's lips, interrupting him. Giggling, she said, "Of course I'll help him, silly! I like Kouichi. He's a sweetie!"

Kouji's expression lit up with hope. He was so filled with gratitude that, against the norm, he wrapped Ellie in a tight hug. "Thank you."

Ellie smirked, patting Kouji's head like a puppy. "It's the least I can do to make up for my sister's actions.

"And don't go saying that what she does isn't my fault," Ellie continued, guiltily pushing away from Kouji, "because it is."

Instead of denying her statement, Kouji asked, "Why?"

"I'm not sure," Ellie replied, mood plummeting. "We used to get along really well, but then she got mad at me. I tried to ask her what I did, but she wouldn't tell me. Then she started that silly-billy war."

_The war that nearly caused the destruction of the Digital World is 'silly-billy?'_ Kouji thought, perplexed by Ellie's childish phrasing. Then he realized what she was saying. "Wait, you mean that all this trouble with Lucemon, from the very beginning, was caused by Nina?"

Ellie nodded. "And me to an extent. I just wish I could fix thing between us, but I don't know how."

Kouji sighed, thinking of his own sibling. "I know the feeling."

"Oh, that's right!" Ellie cried, hitting her hand with her fist as if she'd forgotten something. "We have to help Kouichi!"

"You forgot?" Kouji asked incredulously.

"No, it just slipped my mind for a second!" Ellie explained cheerfully, causing Kouji's eyes to twitch. "Now, do you know what you have to do once you get back?"

"Uh, no," Kouji replied, confused. "Should I?"

"Not if Masumon neglected to tell you," Ellie said, sighing. "Well, there's no easy way to say this, so here goes; Kouji, to help your brother, you basically have to kill him."

Kouji's expression instantly darkened. "That's not what I came to you for. That's no solution to anything!"

"Let me explain," Ellie said patiently. "You won't be killing Kouichi, you just have to aim to kill."

"Why?" Kouji asked tersely, still feeling apprehensive.

Ellie gave Kouji a wide-eyed, teary look. "You're treating me like the bad guy, but I just want to help!"

Kouji flinched as tears began to stream down Ellie's cheeks. "W-wait, don't cry!" he stuttered.

"But you don't trust me!" Ellie cried accusingly. "Even though Nina did the exact same thing to Kouichi and he lived!"

"What?" Kouji said, perplexed.

"When Duskmon stabbed Kouichi, his sword was acting like a kind of gateway for Nina," Ellie explained, sniffling. "It doesn't have to be done this way, but situations like this call for it."

"So I have to stab Kouichi," Kouji stated numbly.

"With you Light Saber, preferably," Ellie said, drying her eyes. "It's easier to manifest myself into it. Plus, I love Star Wars!"

"I have to stab him," Kouji muttered, ignoring the blatant Star Wars references. He placed his hand on his chest, remembering all too well the pain he'd felt before when Kouichi…

"Kouji," Ellie said gently. "I promise that I can save Kouichi without any further harm coming to him, but for that to happen, I need your help. You have to trust me. Please."

Kouji closed his eyes, sighing heavily. Then, resignation evident in his tone, he said, "Okay, I'll kill him to save him. It wouldn't be the first time, anyway."

Ellie smiled sympathetically, extending her hand to Kouji. "I wish you luck, my little warrior."

Kouji nodded, face expressionless. Then he grabbed Ellie's hand.

—

"AHHHHHH!"

"Guys!" Shino cried, straining his eyes while trying to see through the dark cloud that had suddenly enveloped the battle. "Damn it!"

"Wait, look!" Zoe said, noticing the darkness dissipating. Within moments, everything was visible again. What the gang saw made them wish it wasn't.

Kira had returned to human form, her limp, unconscious body held up by a new Digimon. To the others dismay, it looked like a cross between Lowemon and JagerLowemon, though it sported a pair of golden wings.

"Don't tell me…" Shino muttered, staring with wide eyes at the very tough-looking Digimon.

"Yes," Zoe said, despair slowly crashing over her like a wave. "It's Kouichi."

"Nina must have given him the power to Fusion Evolve," Masumon said to herself, glancing at the still-unconscious Kouji draped in her arms. "Please hurry, Ellie."

Meanwhile, the new Digimon, Raihimon, was observing Kira, smiling darkly. (You can't see his face, but you can tell he's smiling. I promise.) "Looks like I finally shut that smart-ass mouth of yours."

"Let her go!" Agunimon suddenly exclaimed, glaring furiously at Raihimon. "I swear to god, Chief, if you don't put Kira down now, I will kick your freaking ass!"

Raihimon smirked, tossing Kira to the side. "Bring it on, buddy."

Agunimon watched Kira fly through the air and into Beetlemon's waiting arms. Then he Fusion Evolved himself and lunged forward, fist cocked. "Damn it, Kouichi!"

Anticipating this move, Raihimon leaped into the air, his lance suddenly appearing at his side. Aldamon, unable to stop his forward momentum, provided a perfect target as Raihimon descended, pointing his lance straight down at the ground, right over Aldamon's head.

Seconds before Raihimon hit his mark, Mercurymon shoved Aldamon out of the way, holding his mirrored arm up as a shield. Raihimon managed to avoid dropping onto Mercurymon by thrusting his weight to the left. However, his lance was still absorbed by Mercurymon's mirror.

"Damn it!" Raihimon cursed, glaring a Mercurymon. "You ate my freakin' lance!"

"Here, have it back!" Mercurymon retorted, mirror glowing as he pointed it toward Raihimon. The missing lance was launched a moment later, shot from Mercurymon's mirrored arm. (Hotaru just makes Mercurymon seem a whole lot cooler, doesn't he?)

However, less than a second before the lance hit its target, the others realized that the target was no longer Raihimon.

"DAI!" Mercurymon cried, watching helplessly as the lance collided with Grumblemon, who looked as if he'd been shoved into the lance's path from behind. The weapon pierced straight through Grumblemon, unraveling his data. Soon Dai lay injured on the ground, the lance stuck in a tree behind him.

Beetlemon, Kumamon, and Witchmon quickly rushed over to help Dai, leaving Kira with Shino and the others. Aldamon and Drakemon began to scan the forest for Raihimon, though it didn't take them long to find him.

"Isn't this speed just unreal?" Raihimon stated cockily, suddenly appearing behind Mercurymon, who hadn't yet moved. "But man it, takes a lot out of you. Still, I'd say going a step further and getting Dai to take the bullet in my place was pretty inspired, huh Hotaru?"

Mercurymon didn't reply, still too shocked to respond to his surroundings. He just kept standing rigidly in place, gaze locked on Dai's unmoving form.

Raihimon smirked. "Looks like you hurt him again," he muttered just loud enough for Mercurymon to hear. "You can never have anything good in your life, can you? Everything you touch turns to ash. Of course, if Dai were to die, that could be taken literally."

Mercurymon, roused by this statement, turned to Raihimon, expression slowly hardening. "You son of a bitch."

"Hotaru, look out!" Aldamon dashed toward his friend, but it was too late. Raihimon had already impaled Mercurymon with his lance, which he'd already retrieved from the tree. Mercurymon fell to his knees, data surrounding him as Raihimon removed the weapon from his body. A moment later, Hotaru fell to the ground, stunned but still slightly conscious.

"And suddenly they drop like flies," Raihimon muttered, smirking. "You never told us how awesome Fusion Evolutions really are, Takuya."

"How could you do this?" Aldamon asked quietly, shaking with rage. His voice, however, was filled with genuine confusion. "We're your friends, Kouichi. How could you do this to us?"

Raihimon was silent for several moments. Then he replied coldly, "Haven't I suffered enough being your friend? Honestly, I could really go without saving your asses constantly."

"Don't listen to him, Takuya," Drakemon said calmly. "He's trying to mess with you."

This advice, however, came a bit too late. Aldamon's eyes were already wide and filled with regret. "I wanted to save you," he muttered, flashing back to the original fight with Lucemon. "I tried to move, but I couldn't. And then you were gone…"

Raihimon gazed pensively at Aldamon smiling slowly. "I believe I just struck a raw nerve. I didn't know you felt that bad about leaving me to die."

"Okay, that just about does it!" Beetlemon suddenly exclaimed, marching up until he was face to face with Raihimon. "I don't care how much this Nina whoever screwed you up, Kouichi. You are being a bastard, and if you don't stop soon, I will personally make you regret all the bullshit you've been saying. Got it?"

Raihimon rolled his eyes, looking bored. "And you could do that without the ability to Fusion Evolve? Yeah right, cheerleader character."

"Thunder Fist!" Beetlemon, filled with rage, struck out with his fist only to hit something hared that had suddenly materialized in Raihimon's hand.

Raihimon smirked at the object, then at Beetlemon. "F.Y.I., I have a shield."

"You…you…" Beetlemon growled, unable to express his anger in words.

"Now that you're feeling so articulate," Raihimon said, stepping around Beetlemon, "I think I'm ready to finish this and move on to my main target. Unless, of course, Tommy and Witchmon feel left out and want me to pick on them?"

"No, I think we're good," Witchmon replied. Kumamon just glared, angered by Raihimon's comments to the others.

"If you're sure," Raihimon muttered, extending his metallic wings. "Before I use this attack, Madjack's requiring me to say this: the attack 'God of Darkness' is owned by TobiGB. Madjack is using it because if she tried to make up an attack on her own, it would suck." (Good boy!) "Yeah, whatever."

With this, Raihimon leaped into the air, using his wings to take him higher.

"Hang on, I'll get him!" Drakemon said assuredly, extending her own wings and launching herself after Raihimon before the others could react.

"Dragra!" Witchmon exclaimed, concern evident in her voice.

"I'm fine, Witchy!" Drakemon yelled back, rising above the treetops to face Raihimon.

Glancing at his pursuer, Raihimon groaned. "What'll it take to make you get off my case?"

"I won't leave you like this," Drakemon said with conviction. "I'll save you from her, Kouichi. I promise."

_What is her problem with you, Nina?_ Raihimon thought, consulting Nina.

_~I'll explain later,~_ Nina replied cryptically. _~Right now, I think I know how to incapacitate her.~_

_How?_ Raihimon wondered.

While Nina explained her plan, Drakemon studied Raihimon closely, already having guessed that he and Nina were planning something in the prolonged silence. Forming her own plan, Drakemon suddenly launched herself at Raihimon, trying to catch him by surprise.

Just as suddenly, Raihimon turned and grabbed Drakemon's jaws in his hands, quickly clamping her mouth shut and halting her attack. "Le' go o' me!" she mumbled through her barely parted lips, struggling furiously.

"Not yet," Raihimon muttered, barely managing to keep her in his grip as his hands began to glow with dark energy. "Say hi to an old friend first."

_~Hi, Dragra!~_ Drakemon's breath caught in her throat when a cheery female voice suddenly greeted her in her mind. _Nina…_

"ARGH!" Drakemon screamed as a sudden mind-shattering pain coursed through her skull, slowly moving to every inch of her body until she was racked with unbearable agony. Raihimon released her as she ceased to keep herself aloft, letting her fall to the ground.

"Dragra!" Witchmon quickly lunged underneath the de-Digivolved Dragramon, catching her before she hit the ground. "Dragra? Can you hear me?" Witchmon asked frantically, staring wide-eyed at her friend.

Dragramon didn't reply, face set in a grimace as she continued to writhe with pain.

Witchmon looked up, glaring at Raihimon. "Damn you, Chief!"

Raihimon didn't react to Witchmon's outburst, instead staring curiously at Dragramon. "Geez, Nina, what'd you do to her?" he asked incredulously.

"It's a secret," Nina replied, smiling and winking.

"You know, sometimes you freak me the hell out, Nina," Raihimon muttered, sweatdropping. "Anyway, let's finish this."

With this statement, dark energy began to surround Raihimon's body, enlarging itself until a shadow fell over the rest of the gang. At this point the energy had taken shape, forming a giant sphinx-headed being with an equally giant sword that just happened to be pointing at the gang.

"Oh shit," Aldamon and Beetlemon said in unison as the dark figure plunged down from the sky, aiming for them.

"That thing's too big to avoid!" Kumamon cried exasperatedly, glancing at Dai. "After sustaining that other attack, Dai wouldn't be able to take this one too, especially in human form. And then there's Kira and Dragramon and Hotaru and…"

"We're not gonna survive this," Shino muttered, coming to the same conclusion as Kumamon. "He's gonna kill us!"

"No he's not!" Masumon said determinedly, thrusting Kouji into Zoe's arms. Then she marched past Shino, stood resolutely a few feet in front of him, and held up her hands, which had begun to glow bright white. "Everyone get behind me!" she commanded as the white light began to extend to her right and left. "I can't keep my shield up over a very wide range, so you have to get behind me!"

"You have a shield?" Shino asked incredulously.

Masumon nodded slightly, keeping her concentration fixed on the slowly growing light in front of her. "Like I said, I'm not much of a fighter, so when I'm stuck in a battle, I have to compensate for that with defense. I can use light a shield, kind of like how Kouji manifests light into a weapon." (Light Saber!) "Yes, Madjack, Light Saber." (Hee hee!)

Leaping at Masumon's command, Kumamon had grabbed Dai and begun running toward the opposite end of the clearing with Witchmon and the still-twitching Dragramon close behind. Beetlemon quickly crouched down next to Hotaru, noticing that his friend was beginning to gain full consciousness again. "Talk to me, Taru. How're you feeling?"

Hotaru took a shaky breath, trying unsuccessfully to push himself to his feet. Then he muttered, "In all honesty, I feel like crap."

"Well, at least you're not dead," Beetlemon replied, grabbing Hotaru and hoisting him over his shoulder. "Now let's keep that trend up. Taki, c'mon, that attack's coming fast!"

Aldamon didn't acknowledge Beetlemon's statement, staring up at the shadow sword as it loomed closer. "Takuya!" Beetlemon yelled again, trying to get his attention.

"Guys, hurry up!" Kumamon shouted, already safely behind Masumon's barrier.

"Takuya, we don't have time for you to space out!" Beetlemon exclaimed, glancing fearfully at the sky. "We're gonna get struck by that if we don't hurry!"

"You go ahead," Aldamon murmured just loud enough for Beetlemon to catch. "I'll stay here."

"Takuya, that's ridiculous!" Beetlemon cried angrily. "Goggle heads aren't meant to be 'randomly commit suicide for no reason' characters! That's why we have the twins!"

"In case you haven't noticed, JP, we don't have the twins!" Aldamon shouted back, glaring at Beetlemon. "Kouichi's gone, and soon Kouji will be too! They can't live without each other! We've lost them, JP, and no one but me has fully grasped that yet!"

Beetlemon flinched, realizing that Takuya was right. With Kouichi in this state, the twins were as good as dead. In Beetlemon's shocked silence, Aldamon continued, "Well, if the twins really are gone and there's nothing I can do about it, then I'm gonna use my ability to Fusion Evolve to protect the rest of you, no matter what happens to me. I'll meet Kouichi's attack with my own, so I suggest you and Hotaru get behind that shield of Masumon's before I make you get behind it!"

Despite his concern for Aldamon, Beetlemon nodded, extending his wings and flying quickly toward the shield with Hotaru in tow.

Aldamon watched him go momentarily, than turned his attention back toward Raihimon's attack. "I loved you like a brother, Kouichi," he muttered to himself, fighting back tears. "Solar Wind Destroyer!"

The others watched, horrified, as Aldamon's giant fireball collided with Raihimon's giant shadow creature, creating an explosion that wasn't the least bit mini. "Darn it!" Masumon cried in frustration, feeling her shield weakening as the blast slammed into it. "I don't have enough power to keep the shield up!"

"I'll shield you guys when it breaks then," Beetlemon said determinedly. "It's the least I can do for having left Taki out there alone…"

"Stop trying to play the damn hero, JP." Beetlemon and Masumon both jumped at the sound of Kouji's voice. Turning, they found him standing behind them, looking a bit shocked by the explosion of attacks in front of them but otherwise okay.

"Um, Kouji's awake," Zoe muttered, surprised by Kouji's sudden recovery from whatever Masumon had done to him.

Ignoring the rest of the gang's looks of curiosity, Kouji's gaze fell on Masumon. "Think Ellie would be able to spare some energy for your shield?" he asked, placing his hand tentatively on her shoulder.

"Considering we need to survive in order to save Kouichi, yes I do," Masumon replied as her shield began to glow more intensely than before. Smiling at Kouji, she added, "You've come to my rescue again."

Kouji glanced down, blushing slightly. "I guess…" he mumbled. (KPBS: 2) "Screw you, Madjack." (I calls 'em as I sees 'em.)

After the explosive force finally diminished, Masumon lowered her arms, letting her shield collapse. "I did it…" she muttered breathlessly, stumbling.

Kouji quickly caught her arm before she fell over, looking slightly concerned. "Good job. Now rest and let me handle Kouichi."

"What do you mean 'handle Kouichi'?" Beetlemon wondered. "Are you seriously going to…?"

"I'm not going to kill him," Kouji growled forcefully, guessing what Beetlemon was getting at. "I'm bringing him back."

"Seriously?" Beetlemon and Hotaru were both shocked and relieved to hear this. However, the haunted look in Kouji's eyes was a bit unsettling.

"Takuya!" Kumamon's sudden shout brought everyone's attention back to the newly formed crater in front of them, in the middle of which lay Takuya's unmoving form. Kouichi stood above him, breathing a bit heavily but looking better than Takuya.

Smiling slightly, Kouichi muttered to himself, "I guess I've bested you in terms of Fusion Evolution, though I don't think it would be smart to use that attack very often."

"Kouichi!" Kouichi jumped, then smirked when he realized who had called his name.

Chuckling, he turned to face his brother. "Finally ready to fight, little brother?"

In answer, Kouji took his D-Tector from his pocket, glancing back at the rest of the gang. Seeing all the pain and anguish Kouichi had caused them, not to mention Takuya lying unconscious at Kouichi's feet, gave him the resolve he needed.

"Spirit Evolution!"

—

_madjack89:_ I finally got it done! Any comments, guys?

_Wizardmon:_ None of us really give a crap about this stupid thing with Kouichi, except maybe Mr. Softy over there.

_Duskmon:_ I'll show you Mr. Softy…

_Kouichi:_ Stupid thing?

_Nina:_ *_singing*_ Why can't we be friends?

_madjack89:_ …Yeah, I'm just gonna give the poll results now. Neji, would you like to assist me?

_Neji: *lying on the couch, sick with a hangover and covered with tails*_ Screw you.

_madjack89: _Alright then…how about you, Pein?

_Pein:_ Fine. *_takes cue cards from Madjack*_ In first place is Duskmon with 38 percent.

_Duskmon:_ Yippee.

_Pein:_ In second place we have Nina with 21 percent.

_Nina:_ Take that, suckers!

_Pein:_ Impmon came in third with 12 percent.

_Impmon:_ Thanks, voters!

_Hallucimon:_ See, this is why you're not a good villain. You're too nice.

_Impmon:_ Shut up!

_Pein:_ In fourth place with 10 percent is Wizardmon.

_Wizardmon:_ Hooray for me.

_Pein:_ In fifth place is Ilsemon with 8 percent.

_Ilsemon:_ Only 8 percent?

_Pein:_ Yes. Anyway, Renamon and Hallucimon tied for sixth place, both getting 4 percent.

_Renamon: *shrugs listlessly*_

_Hallucimon:_ That's understandable, I guess. I almost ruined Takira, after all.

_Sasori:_ What's a Takira?

_Hallucimon:_ TakuyaxKira.

_Sasori:_ Ah.

_madjack89:_ Ready for your first place prize, Dusky?

_Duskmon:_ Sure, whatever.

_madjack89:_ Alright, here you go! *_hands Duskmon a five dollar bill*_

_Duskmon: *stares at money*_ What the hell is this?

_madjack89:_ It's five dollars, silly! Go get yourself something nice with it!

_Duskmon:_ …This is human money, and I'm a Digimon. Cool Madjack. Cool.

_madjack89:_ You're welcome! Alright guys, see you next chapter where we'll hopefully get nice Kouichi back, because evil Kouichi's beginning to tick me off!

_Kouichi:_ Heh…


	33. Ch 33: All That's Done's

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 33: All That's Done's…**

_madjack89:_ Hey guys! The gang's back! And Yin's here to fill the vacant bodyguard position!

_Yin:_ Hi there. How's it going?

_Kouji:_ You just had to, didn't you…?

_Yin:_ Quiet, you!

_Kouji: *sigh*_

_Dai:_ Hi everybody! Thanks for the cookies I got! They're scrum-diddly-umptious!

_Shino:_ And cue the hyperness.

_Dai:_ Don't knock it till you try it!

_Shino: *sigh*_

_madjack89:_ Anyway, now we can find out about Kira's date with Ki—

_Takuya:_ I'll kill that son of a bitch!

_madjack89: _—same.

_Kira:_ Calm down Taki, he didn't make any moves on me. He was actually quite the gentleman.

_Takuya:_ That's just what he wants you to think! He's trying to lower your guard by making you trust him, and then WHAM! Date rape!

_Zoe:_ Takuya does have a point. You should be careful around Kisame. I mean, he's in the Akatsuki.

_Sasori:_ And everyone knows how badass we are.

_Neji:_ Correct me if I'm wrong, but aren't you a PUPPET master?

_Sasori:_ …Poke.

_Neji:_ Screw you.

_Kira:_ Oh, don't worry, guys. I've always got my D-Tector on hand around him.

_Takuya:_ That's exactly what he wants!

_Kira: *sigh*_ Besides, we all know from experience that when an Akatsuki member has a crush, they're very sincere about it. Right guys?

_Sasori and Pein:_ _*blushing* _Shut up!

_madjack89:_ Alright, on to the reviews!

*break*

_GoldenDragon326:_ Heck yeah! Seiko is the master of Kouji pwnage, after all! (_Kouji: *glares*_) Hee, Kouji is Ellie's little puppy! Woof woof! (_Kouji: *glares more*_) Yeah, Chief might retreat to the emo corner for a bit, but he'll be fine. He's Chief, after all! Okay, thanks for reviewing!

_silver fire wolf:_ Awwwww! Hi Kokoro! Aren't you a little cutie? Kya! (Wow, am I fangirling, but I just love cute things!) Don't worry, big Kouichi will be fine, you'll see! Big Kouji just has to…give him a time out! Yeah…time out…anyway, thanks for reviewing, you two! *_blushes at Kokoro calling me pretty_*

_Aldamonburst:_ Sora, how can you confuse Sasuke with Crispin Freeman? And why would Sasuke say that he is his hated brother's voice actor? Oh well, Sasuke's weird like that. (_Sasuke: *glares*_) I can't wait to see you rock out in KH, Kaito! And stop being a baby, Donald! Once a hamster peed on my bed, and you didn't see me complaining…okay, I complained a little, but that's not the point. Thanks for reviewing, Burst!

_TobiGB:_ Thanks for coming up with that attack! I don't know how I would've capped off that fight without it! (_Kouichi:_ Use it for good instead of evil? What're you, a pansy?) Kouichi, that's rude! (_Kouichi: *shrugs*_) Grr…oh, go away, Madara! (_Kouji:_ Let me make this clear, Madara. If you touch one hair on Masumon's head, if you even LOOK at her, I will kick your ass so hard that you may never be able to even think about sitting again. Got it?) Wow, you got him angry. Anyway, thanks for reviewing, GB!

_Dawn of Glory:_ I know, it's a horrible stereotype, but what're you gonna do? That's the way it is. Besides, I have plans for Nina in the future. Thanks for reviewing!

_DigiBleach: _(_Takuya:_ Yeah, I guess… _*embarrassed*_) Aw, it's nothing to be embarrassed about. Now Dusky getting all emotional, THAT'S embarrassing! (_Duskmon:_ Screw you!) Wow, a Dusky plushie! If I had one of those, I'd cuddle it every night before going to bed! (Just like my mini-Kakashi plushie!) Thanks for reviewing!

_KeikoTakishita:_ Yeah, getting rid of evil Kouichi is kind of bittersweet but, truth be told, I really miss writing for nice Kouichi! Wow, I actually didn't think Ellie would be that popular. Once again, I've been proven wrong! (lol) I forget how I started talking to characters in the middle of the story, but now it's kind of become my style! And what a weird style it is! (lol) Thanks for reviewing!

_13wolfsbane:_ Actually Yin, Raihimon is a real Digimon, but the producers of Frontier were dumb and only let pretty boy and Taki Fusion Evolve! (_Yin:_ Hm, I see. Damn producers.) I know. Oh, by the way, I've actually seen the first episode of Wolf's Rain. I'll try to watch the rest sometime. (_Yin:_ Cool.) Anyway, JP's voice actor is in everything, so it's no surprise he's in Wolf's Rain! (_JP:_ That's because I'm awesome!) Yeah, sure. Thanks for the review, 13! (_Yin:_ Can I kick Kouichi's ass yet?) No, Yin. (_Yin:_ Damn…)

_61wisampa:_ In case you haven't noticed, I tend to torture characters that I like! (lol) I understand entirely. Kouichi's annoying the heck out of me, too. Kouji will be fine, though. Okay, thanks for the review!

_Shadowfox94:_ Hm, maybe evil Hotaru would be able to do the same. (_Yin:_ Hell yeah he could!) Yin, shoo! (_Yin:_ Fine.) Evil Kouichi would not fight Zoe. If she went after him, he'd run away. It would be kind of funny! (_Kouichi:_ Hmph…) He'll still be able to Fusion Evolve, and I think I'll explain Dragramon's past a bit in the next chapter and cover it in-depth in a one-shot. I'll hold this hug for Kouichi. Thanks for reviewing!

_Zanzibar1:_ I probably wouldn't be able to, either, but Kouji's hardcore enough to pull it off! (_Kouji: *glares*_) Thanks for reviewing!

_fg1fg:_ I'm going to try to get all the Fusions in eventually, but it may not happen for awhile yet. And I can't wait to bring Tommy's in, either! It's a penguin! Ha ha! Alright, thanks for reviewing! And thanks for the congrats!

_twilight'sfury hexer:_ (_Duskmon:_ Screw being a hero, I just don't want to kill anyone.) He's not even at the anti-hero point yet. Oh well. Really, Shino will be fine, and we'll just have to see how Kouichi takes it. Aw, you shouldn't have gotten detention if you didn't even get the work! That's no fair! Well, you have my sympathy, at least! Thanks for reviewing!

_garnettfox:_ Yay, I did good! I actually worked really hard on the parts with Drakemon, trying to get her just right. Oh, Darkgramon's a pimp! (lol) That's a really good plot you have there. I don't think I want to change it at all! Oh, would you mind if I eventually wrote a one-shot centered around Dragramon and Darkgramon? I'll work really hard on it, I promise! Okay, thank you for everything!

_K.-Remi:_ Eh, Kouichi's annoying me right now, too. Don't fret, Taki shall have his moment in the next thrilling arc! That's an awesome name! LightSaber! That could be your name too, Kouji! (_Kouji:_ No.) Okay, whatever. KPBS=Koujipwned by Seiko. It's basically any time Kouji is completely owned by his woman. (lol) What, you thought I was just gonna leave Dusky and Rena like that? I'm not that cruel! Thanks for reviewing, and careful with that belly lance!

*break*

_madjack89:_ Okay, let's get this chapter under way!

_Kouichi:_ You're not seriously getting rid of me, are you?

_madjack89:_ Well, evil Kouichi, let's just say I've set a nice, cozy chair in that corner so you can comfortably wallow in your guilt!

_Kouichi:_ Crap.

_Everyone else: *thinking*_ Yes!

_Yin:_ Finally!

_Kouichi:_ You couldn't have kept that to yourself?

_Yin:_ I can't keep this to myself, either! *_kicks Kouichi's shin*_

_Kouichi:_ Ow!

_madjack89:_ Isn't she great?

_Kouji: *sigh*_

—

_What's going on?_

Kouichi was aware that he'd fallen, but he had no idea where he'd fallen from. He'd been…flying somehow.

_You shall be first._

Kouichi winced, gritting his teeth against the pain that suddenly pounded through his skull. Too many images…of monsters…

_KOUJI!_

"No!" Kouichi cried, eyes shooting open. The flashing images disappeared instantly, including the one's of his brother lying injured on the ground.

He quickly shook off these pictures, finally noticing his surroundings. He was in the middle of some kind of dark, foreboding forest.

"How did I get here?" he wondered, placing his hand on the ground in order to push himself to his feet. However, the thing he placed on the ground wasn't his hand.

"What the hell?" Kouichi exclaimed, jumping up in surprise. Shakily, he held the dark claw-like apparatus up to his face. He waved it around a bit and then, to make sure he was correct in his assumption, raised his other hand only to find another creepy, grotesque looking thing. "These are…my hands."

_Get out of my head, Duskmon. Leave my memories alone!_

Suddenly Kouichi was on the ground again, more images flashing through his mind as he writhed in agony. This time, though, the pictures slowly began to connect. All the monsters and scenery became more and more familiar until he knew exactly where he was. And what he was.

"No…" he muttered to himself, for now he realized why his brother had been hurt all those times. "I almost…killed him."

_So what?_

—

Lowemon quickly blocked Lobomon's Light Saber (Ironically, I was watching Star Wars the other day!) with his lance, smirking. "Wow," he said, looking excited. "I could tell that you were ready to fight, but I didn't know how ready you were to kill me! This should be interesting!"

Lobomon leaped back, not saying a word. His eyes and expression were both cold, betraying nothing. After a moment of staring his brother down, he finally muttered, "What are you waiting for? Come get me."

"With pleasure!" Lowemon retorted, leaping forward with his lance raised. "Take this, you bastard!"

Despite the obvious power behind Lowemon's attack, Lobomon blocked it with ease, not even flinching.

"What the hell?" Lowemon growled, pushing harder against Lobomon's weapon to no avail. "How could you block my attack so easily? You're not that strong."

"Maybe you're just underestimating me," Lobomon said as his Light Saber began to glow more intensely than it ever had before. "Or maybe, like you, I'm getting outside help."

Lowemon's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean?"

Suddenly, Lowemon heard Nina gasp in recognition. _~Ellie?~_

Before he could ask what Nina was talking about, Lobomon shoved Lowemon back with his Light Saber, causing him to stumble backwards several steps. _Crap,_ he thought. _I'm an open target._

To his surprise, though, Lobomon let Lowemon regain his balance. He still held his Light Saber in front of him defensively, but he made no move to actually attack. He just stood there, once again waiting for Lowemon to make the first move.

Lowemon was slightly puzzled, but nonetheless took the bait. "Fine, I'll do the attacking, if you insist!" With that, Lowemon lunged.

"What the hell is Kouji doing? He's just blocking Chief's attacks," Beetlemon wondered aloud, watching the fight from a few feet away. "Maybe we SHOULD go help him, huh kid?"

"I think this is Kouji's fight," Kumamon replied, sounding a lot older than he was. "We shouldn't get in the way."

"But we definitely need to get Takuya out of there," Hotaru remarked, pointing out the fact that Takuya was still lying in the middle of the battlefield. Once again he tried to stand, and once again he fell back against Beetlemon. "Damn…"

"Easy does it, Taru," Beetlemon said, glancing at his friend sympathetically. "You've done enough."

Hotaru looked like he was about to reply, but Kumamon's sudden shout cut him off. "Kouji!"

Beetlemon and Hotaru looked up along with the others, watching as Lobomon shoved Lowemon away again, grabbed Takuya, and rushed toward the rest of them. "Take care of him," he said quickly, shoving Takuya's limp body into Zoe's arms. Then he raced back over to Lowemon just in time to block another flurry of assaults.

"Again with the defensive strategy?" Beetlemon muttered. "Geez, Kouji, show some backbone!"

"He just doesn't want to miss," Masumon suddenly stated softly. "He's waiting for the right time to strike."

The others stared at Masumon in confusion. "What do you mean by that?" Shino asked slowly.

"What happened to Kouji when he was unconscious?" Zoe added, setting Takuya down next to Kira. (She figured he'd be happiest there.)

Masumon took a deep breath, eyes clouding with an equal amount of guilt and sympathy. "In case you don't know by now, Nina, the one who did this to Kouichi, has a sister. Her name is Ellie, and she represents Light."

"What is up with these completely random names?" Beetlemon said to himself.

"As far as we know, they named themselves," Witchmon replied, finally speaking up. She was crouched down by Dragramon, whose painful twitching was beginning to kick up dust from the ground she lay on. Turning to Masumon, she added, "Masumon, do you think you can to anything for Dragra?"

"I can try," Masumon said, joining Witchmon by Dragramon's side. Then she placed her, once again, glowing hands on the dragon Digimon's stomach. Dragramon settled slightly at her touch until she dropped into a fairly peaceful sleep. "Looks like Nina used some sort of dark power to torture Dragramon with unbearable pain. I think I got rid of it. She'll be okay, Witchmon."

Witchmon fell on Masumon, hugging her tightly. "You are the most awesome Digimon ever, Masumon!"

"Yes, hugs all around," Shino muttered, anxious to hear the rest of Masumon's explanation. "Now that Dragramon's okay, could we maybe get back on topic?"

Masumon sighed, the same look as before crossing her face. Standing up, she continued her explanation, "Okay, as you can see, Nina can corrupt people with darkness. Ellie can do the same with light, only she wouldn't corrupt someone. I sort of sent Kouji to Ellie so that she and him would be able to help each other. Ellie has given Kouji some of her power and with this power, Kouji will be able to drive Nina out of Kouichi, thereby bringing him back. But…"

"So Kouichi's really coming back?" Kumamon suddenly stated hopefully.

"Hell yeah!" Beetlemon said enthusiastically. "I take back what I said about Ellie's name!"

"Guys, Masumon's not done!" Zoe snapped, glaring at the other two. They quickly shut up as Zoe said, "Go ahead, Masumon."

"Uh, okay," Masumon mumbled, surprised by Zoe's sudden anger. "Well, Kouji has the power to save Kouichi, but in order to do it, he has to…to…he…oh, I really wish this weren't the case, but he has to stab Kouichi through the heart with his Light Saber!"

"What?" Beetlemon and Kumamon exclaimed, shocked.

"Knowing Madjack, that's actually not all that surprising," Shino muttered, rolling his eyes.

"True," Hotaru agreed.

"Yeah, but still!" Beetlemon said, growing more shocked and outraged by the second. "Why should Kouji have to do that? There has to be another way!"

"Well, there is, but…" Masumon mumbled uncomfortably.

"Then why aren't we using another method?" Beetlemon asked, glaring angrily at Masumon. "How the hell could you expect Kouji to just…go up and stab his brother?"

Masumon shrunk under Beetlemon's gaze, looking upset. "I'm sorry…"

"JP, stop it," Zoe suddenly said, stepping protectively in front of Masumon. Glaring harshly at her friend, she continued, "Think about it for a second. Did you see what Masumon did to Dragramon? Chances are that's the only other method we have. Now, would you like to go back out there and subdue Kouichi enough for Masumon to do the same to him, probably losing a few lives in the process?"

Beetlemon backed down, pacified by Zoe's logic. "Yeah, but…is Kouji gonna be able to do this?"

No one answered for several moments. Then Zoe replied, "I think he will. He'll do anything to save Kouichi, even something like this."

The others relaxed slightly, hopeful thanks to Zoe's affirmation. But despite her apparent confidence, Zoe wasn't so sure that Kouji could go through with this herself.

_There's no way he'll strike unless there's absolutely no chance of him missing,_ she thought, trying to come up with ways that she could help. _He'll need something to hold Kouichi's attention…he'll need a distraction…_

—

"Huh?" Kouichi got slowly to his feet, glancing around the trees to find the source of the voice he'd heard.

_I'm right here, Kouichi,_ the voice said, sighing heavily.

Kouichi gasped, finally realizing that this voice was coming from inside his mind. But it wasn't his own. "Who are you?"

_You know who I am,_ it replied as if the answer were obvious. _In fact, you made me._

Kouichi had no clue what this meant, despite this voice's assertions. It sounded familiar, but still…

_Think of it this way,_ the voice said, clearly growing impatient. _Whose body are you snatching?_

Suddenly, the sickening truth dawned on Kouichi. "You're Duskmon."

_Bingo,_ Duskmon's voice replied condescendingly. _Now that you've figured that out, time to get back to what I was saying earlier. So what if you kill your brother? What'd he ever do for you?_

"He's my brother," Kouichi stated, though it sounded like a hastily-made excuse. "Shouldn't that be a good enough reason not to kill him?"

Kouichi could almost picture Duskmon shaking his head exasperatedly. _We've got a lot to talk about._

—

"Fight me already!" Lowemon shouted, crossing swords with his brother yet again. This time he changed tactics a bit and pushed forward, shoving Lobomon against a tree. The impact barely seemed to faze him at all. Nothing seemed to be fazing him. And then, of course, Nina had muttered that name, Ellie. What was going on?

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Lowemon growled, glaring angrily at his opponent. "Stop blocking and start fighting!"

Lobomon regarded his twin coolly, then replied, "Why bother attacking when you make it so easy to block every move you make?"

"That does it!" Lowemon shouted, jumping back. Lobomon tensed as Lowemon crossed his arms in an oh-so-familiar way, gathering power for his next attack. Lobomon quickly held his left arm straight out, gathering his own energy in the weapon-like device attached to it. After a second of this, the attacks were unleashed.

"Shadow Meteor!"

"Howling Laser!"

Both attacks, light and dark, collided before reaching either of their intended targets, mingling with each other before completely blinking out of existence.

Neither Digimon said anything for a moment, shocked by what had just occurred. Then Lowemon said, "If you're waiting for me to say something like 'the attacks canceled each other out,' screw you. I'm not Thomas, and wolfy over there is DEFINITELY not Marcus."

Directly after saying this, Lowemon was forced to block an oncoming flurry of assaults from Lobomon's Light Saber. (We've finally come to the point where I can casually refer to Lobomon's weapon as a Light Saber. Ha ha!) Lowemon gritted his teeth, actually finding it difficult to parry his brother's blows. At the same time, though, he was elated.

"Finally, you're fighting like you mean it!" Lowemon shouted happily. "Now I'll actually get some satisfaction from killing you!"

Lobomon didn't respond, keeping up his vicious attacks. However, he could feel his body slowly weakening, and he noticed Lowemon beginning to tire as well. _We can't keep this up forever,_ he thought despairingly._ If I don't do it soon, I'll lose my only chance to save him._

Back with the rest of the group, Zoe was also noticing the twins' growing fatigue. _We can't waste this opportunity to save Kouichi,_ she thought, determination flowing through her. To the others, she said, "We have to distract Kouichi."

"How would you suggest we do that?" Shino asked critically. Earning a dirty look from Zoe, he added, "He's been intent on getting this one-on-one fight. I doubt we could divert his attention from it."

"Maybe JP could buzz around his head like a fly," Witchmon suggested.

"A beetle and a fly are two completely different things!" Beetlemon exclaimed, insulted. "And I don't buzz!"

"Maybe we could just try yelling things at him," Hotaru said, cutting Beetlemon off. "If we get him mad or upset enough, it'll distract him from Kouji while he makes the…killing blow."

Zoe flinched at the phrase "killing blow," but nonetheless agreed with Hotaru's suggestion. Taking a deep breath, she shouted, "Hey Kouichi, want to know what we really think of you?"

"Oh, gonna get me back for earlier now, guys? Go ahead," Lowemon muttered, ignoring the fact that Zoe was the one who had spoken. He was still firmly concentrating on the fight.

"Well, you know what, Chief? You can be really annoying sometimes!" Beetlemon exclaimed, trying to put as much condescension into his voice as possible. "I mean, how many more times can we expect you to go evil?"

"And how can we trust someone who switches sides so easily?" Hotaru added, expression hard.

"And at first I thought you were gay!" Shino exclaimed.

"And your hair is weird!" Kumamon shouted.

"I agree with Tommy!" Witchmon stated

"And…uh…you're mercurial!" Masumon yelled, earning confused glances from the others. "Oh, mercurial means volatile and fickle, by the way!"

"Thanks for sharing," Lowemon muttered, still not paying much attention to the insults against him. "Anything else you'd like to add?"

The others grew silent, not knowing what else to try, considering they hadn't really meant all the things they'd said…for the most part. Zoe bit her lip in frustration, wondering why Kouichi always had to have such a one-track mind when it came to fighting…

Then she had it. The one thing she could say that would make Kouichi halt his attack long enough for Kouji to go through with the plan. She glanced at Shino guiltily, realizing too late that he'd been looking at her sympathetically. His sympathy quickly turned to confusion as he wondered why she'd be guilty. Zoe turned back to the fight. He'd know momentarily.

Gathering up her courage, Zoe stated clearly, "Kouichi, Shino kissed me."

—

_Kouji's never done a thing for you, so why defend him?_ Duskmon's question reverberated in Kouichi's mind. Honestly, Duskmon made a valid point.

Still, being the person he was, Kouichi shook his head. "He's still my brother. More than that, he's my twin."

_God, you're stubborn,_ Duskmon huffed, staying silent for several long moments.

Thinking that Duskmon was finished, Kouichi decided he'd better get on the move before someone stumbled upon him. Like Kouji. If that happened, there'd just be more fighting, which was the last thing he wanted.

For a while he just wandered listlessly through the forest, not caring where he was going. As he walked, he realized how little he actually clearly remembered about his life and how much he'd forgotten entirely.

_I had no clue,_ he thought, amazed and scared that falling down the stairs and hitting his head could make him completely forget who he was. At least, he assumed that was the cause. Then again, he'd still known who he was when he'd first arrived in the Digital World, hadn't he? But then…

Kouichi squeezed his eyes shut, fighting back another splitting headache. Why did it hurt so much to try to remember? Why should knowing the truth be so painful?

_As they say, ignorance is bliss._

—

Suddenly, everything stopped. Shino could feel everyone's eyes on him, judging him, looking down on him. Wanting to kill him.

He took several steps back, but he knew that wouldn't help. All those stares would just follow him. He kept his wide-eyed gaze fixed firmly on the ground so that he wouldn't have to meet anyone's eyes, especially not his…

Zoe glanced worriedly at Shino's horrified expression, but nonetheless returned her gaze to Lowemon, who was finally paying attention to her. She even caught a trace of pain in his eyes, which he quickly covered up with a sneer. "You're bluffing," he said, trying to sound confident. "He'd never have the guts to steal you from me."

"It's true," she responded, glancing quickly at Lobomon. To her dismay, his attention was fixed more on her story than on his brother. _Kouji will take his chance if I can occupy Kouichi longer,_ she thought. "Remember how you saw me dragging Shino off? Well, what did you think we were doing together, all alone?"

"Discussing some stupid thing that I don't care about?" Lowemon asked mockingly.

"Not quite," Zoe replied, preparing to lie her butt off. "I'm not as oblivious as the rest of you seem to think I am. I can tell that all of you knew about Shino's little crush and tried to keep it from me. Well, the fact is that I've been playing all of you this whole time. I knew that Shino liked me. I've known all along."

Everyone was now giving Zoe skeptical looks, but she continued, "And you know what else, Kouichi? I've been getting really sick of looking after you. I mean, you're completely pathetic! Look what you've been reduced to. Killing Kouji for the sake of some vengeful little girl. I need comforting sometimes too, and you can't give it to me!

"But Shino can," Zoe said, glancing back at Shino. This was a mistake. Shino knew she was lying about all of this. She could tell from the look he gave her. He knew what was coming next. Tearing her eyes away from his pleading face, she went on, "He was there for me when I needed him, something you weren't. He was willing to comfort me, something you just couldn't do. And when he kissed me, I realized that I probably made the wrong choice all those months ago."

"Okay, you are definitely lying," Lowemon scoffed, though he didn't sound entirely sure. "I have you in the palm of my hand, and you know it."

"Don't be so sure of that," Zoe said, trying to sound sly. It failed miserably.

"Yeah, whatever," Lowemon muttered, turning around just as Lobomon was raising his Light Saber to deliver the final blow. Raising his own weapon, he said, "You know, it's not like I wasn't paying attention to what was going on behind me. Guess you were so busy closing your eyes and taking deep breaths that you didn't notice me glancing back at you."

Zoe's shoulders sagged as despair crashed over her. They'd been so close, but she hadn't been able to keep his attention on her. It was just too easy for Kouichi to tell that she was lying…but if she showed him proof, he might not be so disbelieving.

Turning around, she saw Shino beginning to relax slightly. He'd probably been worried about Kouichi's reaction to his loss of control. _I can't do this to him. It'll crush him. But if I don't, Kouichi will…_

Zoe marched over to Shino, gripping his arms firmly. "What are you doing?" he exclaimed, confused.

His eyes grew progressively wider as Zoe's face slowly moved toward his. Just before their lips met, she muttered, "I'm so sorry, Shino." Then she turned and shouted, "Hey Kouichi, take a look at this!"

Shino knew what was coming, but felt powerless to stop Zoe's lips from colliding into his.

—

"Why won't you leave me alone?" Kouichi asked, momentarily ignoring his headache.

_Because you're confused,_ Duskmon replied. _I'm just trying to help you out. We're partners, after all._

"Partners…" Kouichi considered this. When he hadn't remembered anything, he recalled a nagging voice telling him what to do at the very back of his mind. Duskmon hadn't been his partner then; he'd been controlling him.

But he also recalled that Duskmon had been warning him against contact with the Warrior of Light, his brother, from the beginning, and he'd ignored him. What reason could Duskmon have for this other than feeling some genuine concern for his welfare?

_There you go,_ Duskmon muttered as Kouichi relaxed slightly. _I told you to stay away from that brother of yours because I knew he'd hurt you. And wasn't I right? Haven't your memories of him caused you pain?_

Kouichi nodded, knowing all-too-well that Duskmon was correct. Then something occurred to him. "Wait, if I couldn't remember that Kouji was my brother, how did you know?"

_You're in my body, I'm in your mind,_ Duskmon replied simply. _You seemed content not knowing the truth, so I didn't tell you._

This should have made Kouichi wary or at least angry at Duskmon, but it didn't. He was honestly beginning to wonder why wiping his brother from the face of the earth was such a bad idea, anyway. From what he could tell, Kouji was no saint. All the times Kouichi had seen him, he'd acted either broody or sullen. Or both. He was a far better candidate for the Spirits of Darkness, Kouichi mused. Someone had to have reversed their roles.

_You're finally getting it,_ Duskmon said, sounding pleased. _Now maybe we can get back to killing those stupid kids, especially that goggle-headed one. He just plain pisses me off._

Kouichi closed his eyes, embracing the now-familiar numbness as it slowly encased his mind. It was a relief to just let go, to not have to agonize over every increasingly difficult detail of his life, to just stop…

_Velgemon, just who are you to me?_

—

"Whoa!" Beetlemon exclaimed, jaw dropping. The rest of the gang had about the same reaction, shocked stares fixed on Zoe and Shino. But none of them were as shocked as Lowemon.

He'd turned at Zoe's shout, expecting more hastily-crafted lies. Instead he'd been shot through the heart…and you're to blame! You give love a bad name! "Madjack!" (Okay, I'm done.)

"What are you…?" Lowemon muttered, taking a shaky step toward them. Chuckling weakly, he said, "This is a joke, right? You're joking. There's no way you're in love with…"

But there was a way, because Zoe was right. He hadn't been there for her when she'd actually loved him, and now his heart had gone so cold that she didn't have the capacity to love him anymore. Unfortunately, he still did.

Eyes slowly narrowing to slits, he growled, "Shino, you bas—"

_~KITTY, LOOK OUT!~_

Lowemon didn't get to finish his sentence as a sudden choking sensation overtook him. Slowly, he understood what had happened, because he'd felt this sensation before. Looking down, he saw what he knew would be sticking out of his chest: Lobomon's Light Saber.

Though it caused him pain, he managed to turn his head around, catching a small glimpse of his brother's face. Lobomon's eyes glinted with a certain satisfaction, yet this soon turned to abject horror at what he'd just done.

Lowemon let his head fall, chuckling bitterly as his world grew dark. The last thing he saw was Zoe pushing away from Shino, eyes shining with regret and concern. So she HAD been lying. Shino, on the other hand, looked drained of emotion. Good. Served him right. Before he faded away entirely, he uttered one word.

"Backstabbers."

—

_Oh no,_ Duskmon groaned as Kouichi clutched his head between what sufficed as his hands, suppressing a scream of agony. _Stupid interfering bitch…_

Kouichi didn't pay the least bit of attention to Duskmon as he sank to the ground, propping himself up against a tree. The few human memories he could recall were flashing through his head nonstop. Even the thoughts he'd had were…

_Wow…I have a brother._

That's right. He'd been happy. He'd never had a sibling before, and the prospect of actually having a twin brother had been…exciting.

Suddenly, the headache ceased, as if the pain had been trying to tell him something. He understood now.

"I can't kill Kouji," he stated with conviction. "Whether I like him or not, he's my brother, and I refuse to do that to him. That's my decision, Duskmon."

Duskmon sighed in frustration. _I can't believe that a softie like you has what it takes to wield MY spirits. Makes me feel like a pansy._

"Get used to it," Kouichi replied, liking Duskmon less and less. "Well, I guess the best thing to do now is to find Cherubimon and tell him my decision."

_Seriously?_ Duskmon stated, seeming to perk up slightly. _You're going to go tell Cherubimon that you don't want to kill Kouji?_

"He'll understand," Kouichi said, heading out of the forest so Cherubimon could find him a bit more easily. "I'll make him understand."

_Sure you will,_ Duskmon muttered, chuckling softly. _Sure…_

—

Kouichi's eyes shot open. Slowly, he pulled himself into a sitting position, gradually remembering the events of the past few hours. Everything he'd said and done burned itself into his memory, making him shudder inwardly at himself.

As his eyes began to cloud with pain, Kouichi pushed himself to his feet. He was a bit unsteady, but he quickly recovered his balance. Then, with a new jolt of pain, he realized something.

No one had helped him to his feet.

Kouichi looked to the edge of the clearing and, sure enough, his friends who were still conscious after his rampage were all standing there, staring at him, not making a single move toward him. No one crowded around him. Not like they had last time.

A lump began to form at the back of Kouichi's throat as he stood in the middle of the clearing, paralyzed. _Now I've gone and done it,_ he thought harshly. _I've shown them all what I really am, deep inside me. How can they handle that? They hate me now, they have to…_

"Kouichi." Kouichi turned instinctively at the sound of his name. Almost instantly he found himself wrapped in a tight hug. The lump in his throat grew as Kouji laughed quietly, sounding happier than he had in awhile. "You're back. Thank god, you're back!"

That's when he felt it. The bond that connected him to his twin was back. He was whole again. That should have made him happy, but it didn't. It just made him feel even number.

Shaking his head, Kouichi raised his arms and slowly but forcefully pushed his brother away. "Kouichi," Kouji muttered, eyes alight with confusion.

Kouichi shook his head vigorously, backing up against the closest tree. He wouldn't let Kouji do this. "Not now…not after this. You can't forgive me now."

—

_madjack89:_ Finally I got Chief back! Yay!

_Kouichi:_ …

_Takuya:_ Kouichi, listen, it's no big deal.

_Kira:_ We're all okay.

_Dai:_ It could've happened to anyone, right Taru?

_Hotaru: *nods*_

_JP:_ You just have the worst luck in the history of mankind.

_Kouichi: _…

_Sasori:_ Did all of you rehearse that?

_Takuya, Kira, Dai, Hotaru, JP:_ …No…

_Yin:_ They did. I watched them.

_Kouji:_ Wow, I actually feel kind of…good. This is an odd sensation. I think this is called joy.

_madjack89:_ Cut the sarcasm, Kouji!

_Kouji:_ I can't hear you; I'm too busy being joyful.

_Yin:_ Want me to hit him?

_madjack89:_ No, I'll just ignore him. Okay, a couple notes about the chapter: the little story/memory of Kouichi's in between the main plot is kind of my version of what happened to Kouichi between episodes 30 and 32, before he went to Cherubimon. The title of this chapter will be connected to the title of the next chapter, so if it doesn't make sense now, it will soon. It's part of a quote from one of my favorite Within Temptation songs.

_Pein:_ Uh oh, I just thought of something.

_Sasori:_ What?

_Pein:_ Madara's gonna be pissed when he reads this chapter.

_madjack89:_ Oh, forget him! Besides, Yin can show him a thing or two!

_Yin:_ Hell yeah! Want to help out, Hotaru?

_Hotaru: *shrugs*_ I guess.

_Kira:_ I'm coming too! I haven't gotten to have a good brawl in awhile!

_madjack89:_ Well, now that that's taken care of, it is time to say adieu. See ya next chapter, and be sure to give Chief lots of love in those reviews!

_Dai:_ And cookies!

_JP:_ He doesn't really look like he's in the mood for cookies.

_Dai: _But I am!

_JP: *sigh*_

_madjack89:_ Oh, before I forget, give Shino some lovin', too!

_Yin:_ Yeah, love that Taylor-hater!

_madjack89:_ YIN!


	34. Ch 34: Forgiven

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 34: …Forgiven**

_madjack89:_ Hi guys! You know, I forgot to mention something last chapter.

_JP:_ Madjack, why is there a purple hedgehog-lookin' thing staring at me?

_Kokoro:_ Hewo, evwyone! I'm Kokowo the hedgecat!

_Zoe:_ Aw, it's adorable!

_madjack89:_ I'm babysitting Kokoro, so be nice, Kouji!

_Kouji:_ Why are you only…never mind, it's not worth it.

_madjack89:_ Okay, back on topic. I didn't mention before that it was Frontier 02's second anniversary a couple weeks ago! Hooray!

_Kouji:_ Great timing on THAT one, considering everyone's depressed out of their minds right now.

_madjack89:_ I wouldn't say everyone's depressed, and shut up, Kouji!

_Kira:_ You're just ticked off 'cause Chief's all sad and what-not.

_Kouichi: *still quite depressed*_

_madjack89:_ What happened to that happy attitude you had last chapter, anyway?

_Kouji:_ I saw how depressed Kouichi was and now I'm annoyed.

_madjack89:_ ANYWAY, I am going to celebrate the second anniversary, but I'm not done preparing the special surprise yet. I'll try to have it done within a few weeks, but I'm not making any promises. On another note, with the release of this chapter, F2R officially has more chapters than its predecessor! Yay!

_Dai:_ Cake?

_madjack89:_ Yes Dai, I have cake.

_Dai:_ Yay! Cake solves everything!

_Kokoro:_ Can I have some cake? Pweeeaaase?

_madjack89:_ I'm sorry Kokoro, but I was told not to give you any sugar. I brought grapes for you, which are like sugar only they're a fruit, so they're healthier!

_Kokoro:_ Thank you, pwetty Maddie-chan!

_madjack89:_ That's it, I love you! _*hugs Kokoro*_

_Hotaru:_ Uh, Madjack? Reviews?

_Dai:_ Why don't you answer them, Taru?

_Kira:_ Yeah Taru, go kick some review ass!

_Zoe:_ It'd be a good way to celebrate our anniversary, especially since your popularity's been going up!

_Hotaru:_ Well…okay. I'll try.

_*break*_

_TobiGB:_ Uh, thanks for the compliments, GB. Madara, why would you swear vengeance against all the Digimon seasons when they had nothing to do with this? Oh well, I guess evil and logic don't always go together. Um, thanks for the review and the treats, GB. Am I doing this right?

_Zanzibar1:_ Yeah, Kouichi's feeling pretty down on himself right now. I kinda get the feeling…anyway, we were all shocked by what Zoe did, but I guess crap happens. _*shrugs*_ Well, thanks for the review.

_silver fire wolf:_ (_Kokoro:_ Konichiwa, Sil-chan! Pwetty Maddie-chan is a vewy good baby-sitter! _*smiles cutely*_) (Seriously, I love you! _*hugs Kokoro*_) Uh…thanks for the review, um, Sil-chan? Sure.

_GoldenDragon326:_ I think the song's called "Forgiven" according to Madjack's iPod. Wait, how'd you get her iPod, Dai? She loves this thing. (_Dai:_ I have my ways…) I wonder about you sometimes. Anyway, I'm sure Kouichi and Shino appreciate your love. Unfortunately, they're too depressed to show it, so…thanks for reviewing, I guess.

_Aldamonburst:_ Hm…interesting. Uh, no offense Kouji, but your weapon is a Light Saber. It's cool, though. (_Kouji:_ Et tu, Hotaru?) Ha ha, very funny. Alright, uh, thanks for the review.

_Shadowfox94:_ Uh…I guess I'll answer all this to the best of my ability. Well, knowing Madjack, Shino may get a girl eventually. I'm apparently getting a girlfriend at some point, so anything's possible. I don't know what happened to Nina and Ellie, but it appears that Ellie won this round. Yay. Here Dai, have some cookies. (_Dai:_ Yay, cake and cookies! This is the best day ever!) _*rolls eyes*_ Well, I suppose that's all. (_Duskmon:_ Do you really need to ask why I dislike him? Just look at him.) (_Takuya:_ Hey!) *_sigh*_ Thanks for reviewing.

_fg1fg:_ Wow…that is kind of harsh. (_Kouichi:_ …) (_Kouji:_ _*glares at fg1fg*_) Kouji, stop glaring at him. You know, I sorta thought Kouichi might've been gay at first too. (_Kouichi:_ …) Well, you're really nice and you did read all the Twilight books…anyway, here are some more snacks, Dai. They're from L. (_Dai:_ Which makes them twice as delicious!) Yeah. Okay, thanks for reviewing.

_13wolfsbane:_ …I wouldn't turn evil. (_Takuya:_ I gotta agree with 13. I think the world would blow up if Nina got to you.) _*slightly depressed*_ (_Takuya:_ Aw, don't take it as an insult, Taru!) (_Zoe:_ I didn't kiss him the first time! He kissed me!) (_Shino: *depressed*_) (_Zoe:_ I'm sorry, Shino!) Uh, thanks for reviewing, 13. Yin's on her way back. And by the way, we didn't beat Madara up, we just pulled a prank on him.

_Dawn of Glory:_ Dai, don't eat these cookies, they're for Kouichi and Shino. Understand? (_Dai: *nods*_) Good boy. Your OCs should be counting their lucky stars that Madjack isn't in charge of their fates…speaking of Madjack's OCs, I'd be worried if I were Nina. Oh well, thanks for the review.

_garnettfox:_ Oh, you're Dragramon's creator, aren't you? Uh…hello. I think Madjack's working out the details of a one-shot for Dragramon, so it's safe to say she'll be writing one, giving ample credit to you. Alright, thanks for the review.

_D'artgirl-Kshina:_ …Wow, our group is really screwed up right now. I guess we'll get it all fixed up eventually. (_Kira:_ Y'know, I'm beginning to see a pattern with all these fight sequences.) And that would be? (_Kira:_ You always get the stuffing beaten out of you, Taru!) …Huh, I guess you're right. (_Kira:_ Aw, poor Taru!) It's okay, Kira. Hm, I don't know how Shino would react to you saying you'd be his girlfriend. I guess he'd be flattered if he weren't so depressed. Anyway, thanks for reviewing.

_Grovy:_ Thanks, man.

_shadica:_ Wow, Kouichi's getting a lot of hugs. That's not too surprising, though. (One of season 6's trailers shows Agunimon? Where is it? Where? WHERE?) Calm down, Madjack. She's very excited about season 6. I'll take the cookies, and thanks for the review.

_*break*_

_Hotaru:_ I think that's all of them.

_Takuya:_ Good job, Hotaru!

_madjack89:_ Yeah, thanks Taru! Alright, let's see if we can cheer Chief up in this super-awesome chapter of F2R!

_Kokoro:_ Don't wowy, big Kouichi. Be happy!

_Kouichi:_ …

_Kokoro:_ _*sad eyes*_

_madjack89:_ It's okay, Kokoro. I still love you! _*hugs Kokoro*_

_Kokoro:_ Yay!

_Shino:_ Everyone's ignoring me…

_Zoe:_ I'm sooooo sorry, Shino! I'm really, truly, completely sorry! I didn't mean to ignore you! Please forgive me!

_Takuya:_ Uh…let's get to the chapter now.

—

"Hey, I've got a brilliant idea," Gotsumon said, still chewing Witchmon and Dragramon out. "Next time one of the freakin' Legendary Warriors goes completely insane, perhaps you should, I don't know, inform me about it!"

Witchmon and Dragramon fidgeted uncomfortably under Gotsumon's harsh glare. "We kind of had to take care of the situation quickly," Dragramon explained, chuckling nervously.

"And you were asleep," Witchmon added weakly.

"If I'm asleep, wake me up!" Gotsumon retorted angrily. "Things that involve Nina are way too important to keep from me! I mean, what if something had happened to you?"

Witchmon instantly perked up. "So, you're angry because you're concerned about me?"

"Well, yeah!" Gotsumon replied thoughtlessly. "You and Dragramon and Masumon and the rest of the gang are my friends."

"Friends…" Witchmon repeated, eye twitching.

"You didn't let me know what was going on either!" Bokomon wailed at the gang, more hurt than angry. Dragramon and Masumon calmed Witchmon down as he continued, "Neemon and I were always there to witness these sorts of events, but lately we've been pushed off to the side!"

"I haven't gotten beaten up or abused in awhile," Neemon added, missing even these unpleasant memories.

"We can't just take you guys everywhere," Takuya said, sighing. "Before we couldn't help it, but now you guys have a safe place to hole up in. (Pun!) It's way too dangerous for you out there, anyway."

"I don't care!" Bokomon cried, rushing over to JP with Neemon in tow. He then tried to stuff himself into JP's sweatshirt pocket, pulling Neemon by his waistband. "We're going to follow you 24/7 from now on!"

"Hey, get out of there!" JP exclaimed, trying to drag the two Digimon out of his pocket.

"He looks so sad," Zoe suddenly muttered, causing the others to mellow.

After Kouji had managed to get Kouichi back (through unspeakable means), everyone that was still conscious had carried their fallen comrades back into the tunnels. Kouichi had followed them with some prodding, but hadn't said a word the whole time. He was currently sitting against the farthest wall of the cavern that the gang was grouped outside, curled into a fetal position. They'd sent Kouji in to talk to him a while ago, but so far it looked like no progress had been made.

Zoe turned away from the cavern entrance, letting the cloth "door" fall swiftly back into place. "Aw, don't sweat it, Zee," Kira said sympathetically, noticing her friend's worried expression. "Chief'll be back to normal after a little moping. He recovered from the Duskmon situation, right?"

"Honestly, Kira, we're not sure if he will be okay this time," Takuya muttered, placing his hand on Kira's shoulder.

Anticipating her protests, JP explained, "Last time, Kouichi was corrupted by Cherubimon against his will. According to Zee's explanation, this time…"

"Kouichi chose this," Zoe finished dejectedly. "That's what Nina wanted, and she got it."

"Kouichi's probably really angry at himself right now," Tommy muttered.

"The poor boy's too hard on himself," Bokomon commented sadly.

Kira, Dai, and Hotaru lowered their heads, hope for Kouichi's recovery diminishing. Shino, who also hadn't spoken since entering the tunnels, didn't react to his friends' conversation, almost as if he couldn't hear what was said. He just kept his impassive gaze fixed on the ground, leaning slightly against the tunnel's wall.

"Hey Zee, maybe you should go give Kouji some back-up," Witchmon suggested, breaking the silence.

Zoe sighed in response, shaking her head. "I doubt Kouichi wants to see me right now," she muttered, glancing guiltily at Shino.

Surprisingly, Shino actually glanced back, though his blank expression betrayed nothing. Then, without a word, he turned and walked slowly down the tunnel, turning a corner and disappearing from sight.

"God, look how much I screwed things up!" Zoe cried, hiding her face in her hands. "He thinks I'm a whore now…"

Instantly, all the girls present were grouped around Zoe, patting her back and giving her words of comfort. "It's the Digital World female support group," JP muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Should we go after him?" Hotaru asked, nodding toward the tunnel Shino had disappeared down. "We aren't really supposed to be letting him out of our sight with the whole…you know."

"Nah," Takuya replied. "Let's just leave him alone for awhile. He'll bounce back. After all, we've all been shot down by Zoe at one point or another. It's pretty common among Digimon girls since all the Digimon guys seem to end up liking them."

"I thought irrational violence was their most common trait," JP muttered.

"That too," Takuya said, sweatdropping.

"Well, while we're all biding our time, perhaps someone can explain to me who exactly Nina is," Bokomon suggested, flipping through the pages of his book. "I can't seem to find anything concerning her in the book."

"That's not surprising," Masumon said. "Nina doesn't make herself known to many Digimon, or people, for that matter. She's a lot to try to comprehend."

"Not to mention she's completely insane," Dragramon added, growing somber. "She managed to drag my brother down with her."

"Dragra," Witchmon began worriedly.

"I have to tell them, Witchy," Dragramon cut her friend off, looking determined. "They need to understand what Kouichi was dealing with."

Turning to face the others, she began, "Well, you see, I've got this brother, Darkgramon. He's kind of…"

"He's got a homicidal, screw-the-world outlook on life," Witchmon provided.

"But it wasn't his fault," Dragramon said defensively. "He had a…bad childhood. Anyway, Nina decided it would be fun to screw with my brother's head. From what I can tell, she makes you feel sorry for her to lower your guard, then she turns around and corrupts you so bad that you just go 'hell with it' and do whatever she says.

"She tried to get Darkgramon to kill me, but he gave me one more chance," Dragramon muttered, smiling sadly. "He wanted to get me to join him and Nina. I have to admit, she almost had me. If Witchy and Masumon hadn't intervened…well, you saw what would've happened."

The gang was momentarily silent, digesting this new information. Then Dai asked curiously, "So what happened to Darkgramon?"

Witchmon shrugged. "Your guess is as good as ours."

"He ran off after trying to corrupt Dragramon," Masumon explained. "We haven't seen him since."

"I'd always assumed that when Nina showed up again, Darkgramon would too," Dragramon said pensively. "Guess she found a new sucker." (_Duskmon:_ Screw you!)

"So what the hell do we do to make Chief feel better?" Kira asked, staring at the closed-off cavern entrance. No one knew how to reply.

—

"Kouichi," Kouji said, once again trying to grab his brother's attention. Again Kouichi didn't respond, almost as if he couldn't hear his name being called. Or he didn't care.

Kouji's head drooped, feeling hurt despite the fact that he deserved the silent treatment. He'd been so happy after actually saving Kouichi that he'd momentarily forgotten to apologize. Now he was being ignored, though Kouichi could also just be too depressed to respond to anything. Kouji would honestly rather it be the former.

Figuring he could try to start a distracting conversation, Kouji muttered, "You know, we never really had a talk about Masumon. Normally you would've been all over me about her, asking questions and trying to cheer me up. You're so nosy that I can't easily keep things from you."

Kouji paused, hoping Kouichi might defend himself against the nosy comment. But he still didn't stir, his face completely hidden behind his raised knees. He was hugging his legs so tight to his body that Kouji knew his brother was bruising himself.

"Well, Seiko's just as angelic as she always was, especially with the wing upgrade," Kouji continued, trying to ignore the concern clawing at his insides. "It really scared me at first, seeing her alive after so many years. Then, of course, I felt guilty about her death all over again. Now, I guess I've just accepted it. More than that, I'm a little happy. I've wished before that I could go back and make sure that Seiko and I never met. I can't complain because I got my wish, just not in the way I expected. She'll never find out about us, and she'll be happy. That's all I ever wanted."

Kouji glanced at Kouichi, hoping that something he'd said would trigger some sort of response from his brother. Still Kouichi was silent, not making any indication that he'd heard what was said.

"Okay, I'm done beating around the bush," Kouji said, unable to hold back anymore. "I messed up. There's absolutely no excuse for my yelling at you, not to mention I went against what you wanted and told the others about Duskmon. You have every right to be mad, but I really hope that you can forgive me, because I'm so sorry. I'm probably the dumbest person ever."

To Kouji's relief, Kouichi finally raised his head, acknowledging his presence. Kouji's happiness was short lived. Kouichi looked miserable with big, dark circles underneath his eyes, probably from lack of fitful sleep, courtesy of Nina. As for his eyes, they were glazed with a tremendous amount of pain and guilt, also courtesy of Nina.

Gaze fixed on the ground at his brother's feet, Kouichi muttered softly, "I forgive you."

"Kouichi…no," Kouji uttered, instantly understanding that Kouichi had never been mad at HIM, even from the beginning. "Don't do this to yourself."

Kouichi didn't reply, sad expression fixed on his face. Panicking slightly, Kouji grabbed Kouichi's shoulders hard, forcing his brother to look him in the eye. "Snap out of it. Everyone's fine and Nina's gone. Your nightmare is over."

"That's just it," Kouichi muttered miserably. "It was never a dream to begin with."

"Guys, stop it!" Kouji turned with a start, releasing Kouichi just as Zoe was shoved roughly through the entrance to the cavern by various human and Digital hands (though some Digital hands weren't hands per say). She tried desperately to wrench herself free and escape, but it was a pointless struggle.

Takuya popped his head in after Zoe, a mischievous grin on his face. "Good luck with this one, guys. She's feisty!"

Zoe flipped Takuya off as he withdrew from the entrance, pulling the cloth closed behind him. "Damn that goggle head," Zoe cursed, turning to the twins. Instantly sobering upon seeing them, she muttered, "Hey guys."

"I'll just leave you to it, then," Kouji blurted, jumping up quickly. Moving toward the entrance, he thought, _I'm not going to be selfish anymore. Zoe will probably make Kouichi feel better, anyway…_

"Where are you going?" Zoe asked, grabbing Kouji's arm as he tried to stride past her. She smirked at his startled expression and whispered, "I'm a little jealous of you too, Kouji. I mean, I'll never have what you have with Kouichi. That's why I need your help now, to fix what's been done. No offense, but you kind of sent Kouichi into his downward spiral."

"Don't I know it," Kouji muttered, feeling another guilty pang. At the same time, though, Zoe's words made him feel a bit happy. For the first time in awhile, he felt as if his brother needed him. And Zoe needed him, too. "I'm not walking out on him again."

In response, Zoe pulled Kouji into a sudden, quick hug. "Good. Now let's go do our job; Kouichi mood control." (_Kouichi:_ Really?) Yup! (_Kouichi:_ _*sigh*_)

Kouji quickly turned and crouched in front of Kouichi, a bit embarrassed by the hug. Smirking slightly, Zoe joined him. To her dismay, Kouichi looked away almost as soon as he saw her.

Noticing Zoe's hurt expression, Kouji said, "He's not mad, he's embarrassed. You saw his darker side, not just him being possessed by Duskmon. Now he's worried about your reaction. He's probably afraid that you might break up with him, but he believes that he deserves it."

"Wow Kouji," Zoe muttered, stunned by Kouji's insight. "I'm beginning to think you CAN read each other's minds." (_Takuya:_ Freaky—)

"Takuya will never be right," Kouji growled. (_Takuya:_ Aw…) "It's just easy for me to…read Kouichi, and vice versa. But you're pretty good at that, too…"

"Well, I'm not TWIN good," Zoe stated modestly. Then, turning back to Kouichi, she said, "Kouichi, I'm not here to dump you. I think I've broken enough hearts today. I just came to, you know, talk things out. Okay?"

Predictably, there was no response from Kouichi. Sighing with frustration, Zoe continued, "Alright, I'll talk while you listen. You know how I said all that stuff about liking Shino's kiss and whatnot? Yeah, that was lying. I really was being sincere all those times I told you that I love you, Kouichi. Shino's sweet, but he just doesn't compare. When I kissed him, I did it for your sake. It was selfish to use him like that, but it's what I did. I'm sorry I had to hurt you like that, but Kouji needed a distraction in order to save you, and I needed you to be saved. Please understand…"

Kouji stayed quiet throughout Zoe's speech, watching his brother's very subtle reactions carefully. He was beginning to realize how easy it had become to interpret Kouichi's thoughts through his expression since Ellie's…intervention. As Zoe spoke, Kouji pieced together his brother's thoughts. _He knows…_

"I know you don't love Shino," Kouichi said just as Kouji thought it. To Zoe, he went on to say, "Sometimes I acted like I considered him a threat, but I didn't really believe he would ever steal you from me."

"I'm not some jewel to be stolen, you know," Zoe mumbled irritably.

"But I couldn't help feeling at least a little jealous," Kouichi continued, glancing apologetically at Zoe. "The way Shino looked at you sometimes made me nervous. Despite your sincerity in saying how much you loved me, I thought that, maybe, if Shino ever tried anything, you'd…come to your senses. I always thought Shino would snap, though. Then again, what I did is worse than what he did. It's not like kissing you is gonna kill anyone."

"Kouichi," Kouji began.

"Don't even think about saying this wasn't my fault, Kouji," Kouichi quickly growled, eyes narrowing. "I could've just said no to Nina. I didn't. How can you be blamed for a choice that I made? A selfish, stupid choice that could have gotten everyone killed, and I would have been the killer. I'm such an idiot. I mean, how hard can it possibly be not to hurt the people you care about? I've been a liability to all of you from day one. And to think I believed that I'd changed. 'Done hiding in the dark'…what an empty promise!"

"Kouichi, that's enough!" Zoe ordered sternly.

"Why should I stop? Because you don't want to hear it?" Kouichi retorted angrily, emotions coming to a boil. "Like it or not, this is who I am. I've tried to be good enough, to do the right thing, but I'm just not good! I'm bad, and that's why I'll never be able to make up for what I—"

Kouichi halted as he was suddenly slapped by none other than Zoe. Both twins were shocked silent, though this was honestly something to be expected from Zoe. (_Zoe: *glares*_)

"Whoa!" JP exclaimed from the doorway, giving away the fact that it was his turn to peek into the cavern. "Digimon girl violence at its finest!"

Zoe turned sharply, giving JP a death glare. "Um, I'll just…bye," he mumbled, quickly retreating. Both Zoe and Kouji rolled their eyes.

"I'm sorry," Kouichi apologized quietly, holding his stinging cheek. "I probably deserved that."

"You want me to smack you again?" Zoe threatened. In a gentler tone, she continued, "I didn't hit you to punish you, I did it to make you stop bashing yourself. You're always so hard on yourself and I don't understand why. I mean, you're such a good person, but you can't see it. Why?"

"Because he's too nice," Kouji replied, knowing exactly why his brother was so hard on himself. "You don't want to be a burden on anyone. Growing up, you noticed that Mom always seemed so overworked and sad and automatically assumed it was all your fault. So you turned into the soft-spoken guy that you are, always trying to help out with everything. Then you tried to help her by keeping what you knew about me to yourself. You did the same thing with us, now that I think about it. Not to mention that to clear up your guilt, you beat the shit out of any Digimon that came near us.

"But you don't have to do that," Kouji said, staring Kouichi down. "You make up for what you've done by being you."

"Kouji is absolutely right," Zoe stated, smiling lovingly at Kouichi. "You make it impossible for any of us to hate you. That's why I fell in love with you. It wasn't your good looks or your cute smile, though you're well endowed in both those areas. Heck, if I wanted a guy that looked like you, I might've ended up with Kouji. I chose you because of your kindness and your all-around beautiful personality. Someone like you loving me so much is more than I could ever ask for. You're the best guy a girl could ever hope to have."

"And the best brother, especially for a person like me," Kouji added. "In case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly the nicest guy out there. I never have been, even when Seiko was around. Most people would blow me off after finding out an asshole like me was their brother, but you didn't. You stuck it out, believing that I was actually a decent guy deep down. It's probably more than I deserve, which is why I don't really resent you for trying to kill me. It's not like the others haven't wanted to do the same at one point or another."

"You got that right," Zoe muttered, smirking. Then, placing Kouichi's hands in her own, she said, "You see? No matter what you do, me and Kouji will always be here for you. All that you've ever done has been forgiven."

"Damn straight it has!" Taking this moment as their cue, the gang swarmed into the cavern, crowding around Kouichi in a big, friendly huddle. Kouichi pressed himself against the wall, startled by his friends' sudden entrance.

"Don't be nervous, Chief," JP urged, smirking slightly. "We come in peace."

"And don't worry, you didn't seriously hurt anyone," Tommy reassured, gesturing to the others. "We're all okay now!"

"We actually want to apologize, me especially," Takuya mumbled sheepishly. "I really didn't know you were so hell-bent on not letting the others know about Duskmon yet. I thought I was helping by telling them. I'm sorry."

"Speaking of Dusky, I have something I want to say, too," Kira stated. "To restate my earlier point, you're still you, and Dusky's still Dusky. Who the hell cares that you used to pull a Jekyll and Hyde thing? The fact remains that you and Duskmon are separate now. Done and done."

"What she said, only with more references to cookies and Death Note," Dai said, grinning broadly. Hotaru just nodded, agreeing with their statements. (Half your reviews are gonna involve complaining about Taru's line count this chapter, aren't they? Admit it.) (_Hotaru:_ Why not just give me more lines?) (Quiet, Taru.) (_Hotaru:_ -_-)

Kouichi tried to hold them back, but everything his friends had said acted like a wrecking ball destroying a dam. "You guys suck," he mumbled, hiding his rapidly-tearing eyes behind his arm.

"We do suck, don't we, JP?" Takuya asked cheerfully.

"Why yes we do, Takuya," JP replied, grinning impishly. (_Impmon:_ Did someone say imp?) You're coming back next arc, Impmon. (_Impmon:_ Finally!) Baby…

Despite himself, Kouichi smirked at his friends' behavior. "Look guys, he's smiling!" Dai announced triumphantly.

"I hereby initiate a group hug!" Bokomon exclaimed, launching himself at Kouichi. "And I'd just like to point out that I'M not the one who gave away your secret this time!"

"Hooray for lying!" Neemon shouted, joining Bokomon. The others joined in as well, nearly suffocating Kouichi (mostly because Zoe was squeezing him too hard).

The remaining Digimon (a.k.a. Gotsumon, Witchmon, Dragramon, and Masumon) stood in the cavern entrance, watching the gang. Turning to her companions, Witchmon said, "Anyone else wanna join the cornucopia of love?"

"You know I'm in!" Dragramon replied enthusiastically, accompanying Witchmon to the hug pile. Shrugging, Gotsumon and Masumon joined in as well.

Once Zoe allowed him to breathe again, Kouichi muttered through his tears, "Thank you, everyone…" At that moment though, he finally realized that one member of their group wasn't present. "Where's Shino?"

—

"Damn it!" Shino punched the tree trunk yet again, despite his already bruised and bleeding knuckles. Wincing, he gave the backs of his hands a once-over. They looked beaten and defeated. "An outside to match the inside," he mused bitterly.

Feeling a sudden chill creep up his spine, Shino turned, glaring out at the looming forest. Was he here already? Either way, Shino decided to call him out. "Quit skulking around, Wizardmon! Come out so we can finally end this!"

Since learning the true origins of his mental unrest, Shino had known it would come to this. Now, finally pushed to his breaking point, he knew he had to kill Wizardmon. If he didn't, he'd slip into insanity, and he wouldn't let that happen. Not without a fight.

Shino waited, tensed for Wizardmon's arrival or possible attack. But nothing stirred in the surrounding trees. Gradually, Shino realized that Wizardmon wasn't coming, that he wasn't there, that he didn't give his victims fighting chances. He was alone.

Sinking slowly to his knees, all of Shino's bottled emotions bubbled up inside him until he had to let them out. "Why did she do that?" he asked himself, already knowing the answer. "She knew that I liked her. She knew it, and she still used me like that! If she knew how much a kiss from her really meant to me, then how could she kiss me and shove me aside? For HIS sake? Of course she'd choose him. She always does."

Before Shino knew it, tears of anger and frustration, resentment and bitterness were falling to the ground in front of him, staining the dust with darker, damp patches. Taking a deep breath, he muttered, "I loved you, Zoe. You had my heart and you used it. You're no different than Mai!"

"Hi Shino. Long time no see."

Shino was hearing things. He had to be. That couldn't be who he thought it was. She couldn't be here. Turning slowly, he realized that not only could she be here, she was here, standing right behind him with that cute little smile on her face that he used to love so much.

"Mai…?"

—

_madjack89:_ Well, wasn't that a fun chapter?

_Kouichi:_ Yeah, I guess I do feel a little better thanks to the chapter and what happened at TobiGB's party.

_madjack89:_ Good old KH gang!

_Kira:_ Yeah, we fixed Chief, but how're we gonna fix crazy Shino over there?

_Dai:_ Maybe we should find somebody else who used to be crazy but got over it!

_Takuya:_ Good idea! Neji, go talk to Shino!

_Neji:_ What? When was I crazy?

_Takuya:_ During the Chunin exam arc.

_Neji:_ I wasn't crazy then, I was just angry at the world.

_JP:_ You nearly killed Hinata for no good reason, then tried to do the same with Naruto.

_Neji:_ …Shut up!

_Kouji:_ Guys, don't pick on Neji. He gets enough abuse just being one of Madjack's favorite anime characters.

_madjack89:_ I wuv u, Neji!

_Kokoro:_ I wuv you, too!

_madjack89:_ _*hugs Kokoro to within an inch of his hugging life*_

_JP:_ Since when were you two such close chums?

_Kouji:_ Same voice actor and same headaches.

_Neji:_ We have mutual hate for our current situations.

_Takuya:_ Stop sounding smart, Neji!

_Neji:_ I'm a genius. I can't help it.

_Hotaru:_ Okay, let's wrap this chapter up.

_Dai:_ Next time we'll FINALLY find out who Mai is and what happened with her and Shino! I'm excited! Yay! Oh, and it'll also mark the end of this arc! I wonder what the next arc will be about.

_Kouji:_ Probably more angst.

_Dai:_ Yeah, probably!

_Kira:_ Till then, catch ya on the flip side.


	35. Ch 35: Snuff

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 35: Snuff**

_madjack89:_ 'Sup, peeps?

_Kouji:_ 'Sup?

_madjack89:_ Just trying out some new terminology, eh.

_Hotaru:_ Madjack went to Canada on vacation a couple weeks ago.

_Takuya: _Now she won't stop saying eh!

_madjack89:_ You know you like it, eh!

_Takuya:_ Grrr…

_madjack89:_ Anyway, I bet all of you Digimon fans are just as excited as I am about THE NEW SEASON OF DIGIMON! *confetti rains down*

_JP:_ They all look like legos.

_madjack89:_ Just because Ballistamon looks like the lego version of Beetlemon doesn't give you the right to mock them, JP!

_JP:_ Okay, let's try this: are Akari and Zenjirou gonna become useful anytime soon?

_madjack89:_ Hmph.

_Zoe:_ He's got a point. It took the rest of us at least thirty episodes to stop being useful in Frontier.

_Takuya:_ Speak for yourself.

_Zoe: *smacks Takuya*_

_Takuya:_ Ow!

_madjack89:_ Speaking of Zenjirou, I have this crazy feeling that in the dub, his name's getting changed to Zachary. Who'd like to place money on that bet?

_Kouji:_ Heck, if you end up being right about that, I'll call myself a pretty boy.

_madjack89:_ Deal!

_Kira:_ *_crosses fingers*_ C'mon dubbers.

_madjack89:_ Taiki's so cute, eh!

_Takuya:_ Hey, I thought I was your favorite gogglehead!

_Kouji:_ Looks like you've been replaced.

_Takuya: *pouty face*_ Madjack?

_madjack89:_ Aw, I still like you, Taki. It's just that Taiki is so…KYA!

_Dai:_ I like Shoutmon! He reminds me of Bokomon because he's loud and doesn't shut up!

_Bokomon: *sweatdrop*_

_Witchmon:_ I'm just crossing my fingers that a Witchmon finally shows up this season, even as a filler villain.

_madjack89:_ And when's Agunimon showing up? It's about time Frontier got some credit!

_Kouji:_ Madjack, you're gonna have to face the fact that everyone hates us.

_madjack89:_ But you're awesome!

_Kouichi:_ Not everyone sees it that way.

_JP:_ Fat jerk, my ass…

_madjack89:_ Okay, time for some reviews, then the chapter!

*_break*_

_silver fire wolf:_ Aw, but I am a great babysitter! I babysit all these guys in Frontier 02, don't I? (lol) Thanks for reviewing!

_13wolfsbane:_ Devil May Cry…that reference is lost on me. (I know what it is, but I've never played the games or seen the show.) Yay, food! (_Dai:_ Reviews are always my favorite part of the chapter!) (_Hotaru:_ Um, thanks for the sword, but please don't go after Takuya. It's not worth it.) (_Takuya:_ What does that mean!) Uh oh, looks like the secrets out! Don't be mad at 13, Yin! She just got hyper! Oh well, thanks for the looong review! (lol)

_Aldamonburst:_ Aw, it's okay, Kaito! You're adorable too, even if you become engorged with cookies! Thanks for the review! BTW, Mai does actually have cookies, Kaito. Do you like sugar cookies?

_hazeleyedharmony:_ Guys, look who it is! (_Takuya:_ Oh yeah, that…person. Hi.) (_Kouichi:_ I remember you. You're that other Kouizumi fan. Well…welcome back, I guess.) Yes, welcome back! Now for some review answering!  
Opening: Actually, Kokoro is a person's OC, as far as I can tell. Either that or he's from Sonic the Hedgehog. (lol) I was answering a request, so there you have it. Yay, balloons! Maybe they'll help Kouichi's depression! (_Kouichi: *sigh*_)  
Part 1: I love writing for scenes with the (almost) entire group. Then I can be as hyper as I want! (Like with all the random references! PPP FTW!)  
Part 2: No, Mai is alive and well. (_Shino:_ And a bitch.) We'll get to that in a second, Shino.  
Yay, more writing from you! Oh, I've never heard that song before. I'll give it a listen, especially since, according to your youtube videos, we seem to have a fairly similar taste in music! Alright, thank you very much for the review!

_GoldenDragon326:_ Kouichi already has a mood control group, so I think he's good to go! (lol) Go ahead and give him a hug if you want, though! I'm sure he'd appreciate it! Hotaru doesn't particularly care about his line count, he just wanted to make you guys happier! (_Hotaru: *embarrassed*_) Aw, you're so cute sometimes, Taru! I can understand not remembering Mai. I only mentioned her once, and it wasn't a really big, look, here it is reference. (lol) Just know that she was Shino's friend, the chapter will tell you the rest. Yeah, I may need to get a psychiatrist in here eventually. We'll see. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_Dawn of Glory:_ Aw, I'd be nice to YOUR OCs! (_Everyone: *sigh*_) Now that you mention it, I DO kind of have that stuck in my head. (_Dai:_ I'm only gonna break, break your, break, break your heart!) (_Shino: *sigh*_) The wait for angst is now over! (lol) Thanks for reviewing!

_Zanzibar1:_ Thanks! I enjoyed writing that scene!

_Shadowfox94:_ Well, Nina did give Kouichi his Fusion Evolution, so I guess they're even! (_Takuya: _FTTP!) (_Kouji: *glares*_) Hooray for violence! (_Kira: _We totally kick ass, Zee!) (_Zoe:_ I suppose…when the boys deserve it.) Hm…I guess Seiji would work. As for some romance between them…we'll see. Oh Impmon, you're so oxymoronic! (_Impmon:_ I ain't sure if that's an insult er not…) It's not! (_Impmon:_ 'Kay.) Okay, thanks for reviewing!

_TobiGB:_ (_Everyone:_ …) (_JP:_ …Well damn. I guess he's right.) It's okay, GB, I don't mind their complaining! I find it funny! As for beating up Ilsemon, they're gonna do that next arc! Thank you for the review, guys!

_beybladeingninjaprincess:_ Of course I missed you! You're one of my reviewing buddies, after all! (_Takuya:_ Quit copying me!) Anyway, I should invite Shino Aburame over. That would be funny…the only problem is that I hate bugs. (They're so gross!) Oh well. Poor twins and Dusky. It's not your fault that you're so awesome! Good luck with the fangirling, guys! Thanks for reviewing! (_Takuya:_ Give my goggles back!)

_garnettfox:_ Wow, they are kinda like the twins, though Dragramon's a little bit more hyper than Kouji. (lol) Yay Agunimon! (Even though Lobomon's my favorite Legendary Warrior, he's still cool!) Thanks for the review!

_shadica:_ Aw, does that hug make you feel any better, Shino? (_Shino:_ Not really…) Oh well. Anyway, is Agunimon even going to show up? I've been waiting for him, darn it! Well, thanks for the review!

_Kirae-Remi:_ Yeah, I fix one guy's issues, then I mess up someone else in the process. (lol) Thanks for reviewing!

_KeikoTakishita:_ (_Hotaru:_ Sorry, but thanks for the review, anyway.) Yes indeed, Digimon girl violence! (lol) Okay, thanks for the review!

_*break*_

_madjack89:_ Alright, let's get this chapter rolling! By the way, the chapter title is the name of a song. Can you guess the artist?

—

"So this is the Digital World," Mai mused, admiring the grim yet still enchanting scenery. "It's a lot darker than I thought it would be. I guess that's why they call this the Dark Continent, huh Shino? Oh, by the way, how are Nanami and the rest of your family doing?"

"This can't be real," Shino muttered, eyes shut tight, trying to block Mai out. Why was she acting so weird? No, so…normal? "This is the Digital World. You can't be here. You can't!"

Mai smirked, slowly circling Shino. "Oh, Shino. You try so hard to be logical, pushing out any thought but to finally make your mother proud of you. But this place isn't logical and your mom isn't here. You don't have to impress anyone. You're free!"

"If I'm free, what are you doing here?" Shino asked harshly, noticing that Mai was almost like a shark circling her prey. And he was the prey.

"I exist because you want me to," she replied, stopping in front of Shino. Crouching, she poked Shino's forehead. "I came from right here."

Shino slowly realized what Mai was saying. She was only here because he thought she was. This "Mai" was a figment of his imagination. A hallucination. "My god, I'm really going insane."

"Aw, don't be scared, sweetie," Mai said soothingly, brushing some hair out of Shino's frightened eyes. To distract him, she added, "This is kinda like when we met. I found you crying then, too. Remember?"

Oh yes, Shino remembered…

—

_Shino rubbed his arm against his eyes, trying to dry them sufficiently so that no one would see that he'd been crying. It wasn't like Ginjiro had even really begun to insult him. All he'd said was, "You're stupid," a common argumentative phrase among second graders. But it had nonetheless struck Shino like a blow to the stomach. He heard it too much at home between his mediocre grades and fairly poor athletic performance. He did his best, but his mother…_

Really Shino, sometimes I wonder how you can be so stupid!

_Shino was glad he'd found this hiding place in between the school buildings, or he'd surely be caught in his moment of weakness. That was certainly all he needed._

_"Hey, what're you upset for?"_

_Shino jumped, startled by the sudden question. Looking up, he came face to face with a girl he recognized from his class, though he'd never talked to her before. All he knew was that her name was Mai._

_"Your name's Shino, isn't it?" Mai continued when Shino didn't respond, flipping a strand of black hair out of her face. "You're in my class, aren't you?"_

_Shino was too embarrassed to do anything but nod, eyes trained on the ground._

_Noticing his embarrassment, Mai smiled brightly, sticking out her hand. "Do you maybe want to play with me, Shino? It'll be fun!"_

_Shino glanced shyly up at the girl, studying her sparkling blue eyes. He was instantly captivated by the sincerity he saw there. She truly wanted to comfort him. It was the most sympathy he'd ever seen a person possess…for him._

_Cautiously, Shino took Mai's hand in his own. "Okay."_

—

"Okay, you want to do this right," Kira said, facing Zoe and Kouichi. "Zee, remember not to give him false hopes. That'll make it worse."

"And you have to be harsh, yet soothing," Takuya added. "We don't need this whole angst-fest messing with the group dynamics."

"And NEVER EVER say 'It's not you, it's me,'" JP cautioned sternly. "Besides, you both kind of screwed up in this case, so that's a moot point."

Zoe suddenly raised her hand, halting her friends' onslaught of advice. "Guys, I think I've already had more than enough experience dumping people. You two should know," she muttered, glancing at Takuya and JP. "Though I must admit that this'll probably be much easier than getting you off my back, JP."

JP smirked. "Hey, when I see something I want, I stick with it."

"Like chocolate!" Dai suggested.

"Don't push it, Dai," JP said flatly.

"Are you sure he's out there?" Hotaru asked, gesturing toward the tunnels' entrance/exit ladder.

Both Zoe and Kouichi nodded, confident in their assumption. "It's the best way to get some peaceful emo time in," Zoe explained, recalling her own disastrous trip to the surface which had, in a way, caused this in the first place.

"Not to mention what would happen if some douchey Resistance member found him 'unguarded,'" JP muttered, annoyed for his friend. "He needed some alone time, but he didn't want to get caught. Our allies basically chased him away."

"Exactly," Zoe agreed, also ticked off by this fact. "Kouichi and I will go find him, I'll apologize fervently, and we'll bring him back. No sweat."

"Especially since Chief can kick major evil Digi-ass with that new Fusion Evolution," Kira stated, a hint of envy in her tone.

Kouichi shuffled his feet self-consciously. "I guess…"

The others gave Kouichi slightly worried glances. Though they'd kept him from drowning in his guilt-ridden depression, they knew he still needed to find the shore. "Well, I guess you two had better go find Shino before he gets himself into trouble," Takuya said, patting Kouichi's back as he left the room. The rest of the gang followed suit, Bokomon reminding Zoe and Kouichi to 'give him details when they returned.'

Kouji hung back, turning toward his brother. "You'll contact us if you come across something you guys can't handle, right?" he asked anxiously.

Kouichi smirked, holding up his D-Tector. "Yes, we'll contact you and yes, we'll be careful."

"You know I had to ask," Kouji said, smiling back. He paused, then added, "Ellie says that she's glad you're okay now and hopes that you can try not to hate Nina for what she did…even though I do."

Ignoring Kouji's last comment, Kouichi asked, "Ellie's still here?"

"Here as in inside my head," Kouji replied, pointing to his temple. "She asked if she could stay and I let her. It's better than other voices I've had in here."

"Yeah," Kouichi muttered. To change the subject, he whispered, "So, will you tell me the secret you've been keeping since the Fortune Telling village when we get back?"

Kouji eyed Kouichi suspiciously. "How do you know about that?"

Kouichi shrugged. "You seemed preoccupied then, and now that I've thought about it, you only act like that when you're keeping a secret."

Kouji sighed heavily. "Is it just me, or can we suddenly read each other's minds?"

"I guess we got more perceptive of each other when…you know," Kouichi muttered, referring to earlier. "So that means no more secrets, right?"

"Well, I suppose I'll have to tell you about that now, even though the knowledge of it doesn't seem to help prevent anything," Kouji muttered. Then, remembering who else was in the room, he glanced at Zoe, who stood off to the side, letting the twins have their moment. Smirking, he said, "Okay Zoe, he's all yours."

Zoe jumped, having been zoned out during the others' exchange. "Huh?"

Rolling his eyes, Kouji walked over to Zoe, pulling her into a quick hug. "Good luck with Shino. And be careful for all of our sakes, okay?"

Caught off guard by Kouji's sudden uncharacteristic display of emotion, Zoe just nodded, eyes wide with surprise. Chuckling to himself, Kouji turned and exited the cavern, muttering a quick "See ya" as he went. (Hey, you stole my phrase!) (_Kouji:_ I don't see a copyright on it.) (Hmmm…)

"Well, Kouji seems to have made a full recovery," Zoe commented, glancing at Kouichi. "The question is, have you made enough of a recovery to…face Shino?"

Kouichi sighed, closing his eyes. " A little while ago, I would've chewed him up and spat him back out for what he did, but now I think I've…composed myself enough to be nice. For the both of you."

"You wouldn't have been that harsh," Zoe argued lightly, closing the distance between herself and Kouichi in a few quick strides.

Kouichi wrapped her in his arms as soon as she was close enough, hugging her tightly to his chest. "You are really overestimating my self control," he muttered, resting his head on Zoe's shoulder. "Especially concerning you."

Zoe smiled slightly, running her fingers gently through Kouichi's hair. "He's your friend, Kouichi. You'll be fine. Besides, you're not the one that hurt him."

"Stop it or I'll have to find a way to shut YOU up," Kouichi threatened, referring to her earlier slap.

"You're gonna hit a girl?" Zoe teased.

"Nope," Kouichi replied, raising his head. Before Zoe could say more, he pressed his lips firmly, almost greedily, against hers. Zoe was a bit surprised, but quickly fell into the familiar rhythm of kissing Kouichi.

After a few minutes they broke apart, both looking a bit flushed. Glancing sheepishly at Zoe, he asked, "So…how does that rate?"

Chuckling slightly, Zoe replied, "Better than Shino."

Kouichi let out the breath he'd been holding, looking somewhat pleased with himself. "At least I don't have to fight him for you," he muttered.

Zoe nodded, a somber expression crossing her face as she turned toward the ladder. "Well, let's go."

—

_"Shino, why won't you just join the track team?" Mai asked, setting down her mixing bowl so that she could properly stare Shino down. "You're one of the fastest runners I've ever seen AND they've been trying to recruit you for months!"_

_Shino just shrugged, continuing to measure out ingredients despite the death glare Mai had pinned on him. Mai had a knack for scaring people with dirty looks, but Shino had grown accustomed to it in the four years that he'd been her friend. Another quirk he'd accepted was Mai's constant need to be doing SOMETHING, whether that meant something crazy like an extreme sport or something tame like baking cookies, which was what they were doing now. "I'd much rather be making sugar cookies with you than running around in a big circle all day," Shino retorted, dumping his ingredients in Mai's bowl._

_"I'm serious," Mai said, gaze softening. "I'm sure it would be fun. Why won't you join?"_

_Shino lowered his head, not knowing exactly why he refused to join track. He was a fairly fast runner and, with some training, he could be a serious contender in competitions. But he wouldn't get any satisfaction from it. He knew that his father and sister would be proud of him, and Mai would be simply ecstatic. But his mother…_

_"There's nothing to gain from it," Shino confessed, feeling a slight pang of underconfidence course through him. Before Mai could respond, Shino quickly changed the subject. "By the way, why are we baking cookies if you don't plan on eating them afterward?"_

_Mai's concerned frown was replaced with a mischievous grin. "I'm going to wrap these cookies up and leave them on a certain someone's desk tomorrow at school."_

_"First of all, don't girls usually give treats to guys on Valentine's Day?" Shino commented dryly. "And it's not a big secret who you're giving these to, though I still don't really approve of it."_

_"But Kakeru is sooo cool!" Mai squealed, giggling happily. "I just have to keep trying to get his attention!"  
"If you haven't gotten his attention by now, I kinda doubt you will," Shino retorted, recalling Mai's many fruitless attempts at flirting with Kakeru over the past year. Underneath the sarcasm, though, Shino was truly worried for Mai and wished that Kakeru would just give her a concrete answer as to whether he liked her or not so she could move on with her life. It wasn't fair to leave her hanging._

_Mai's expression mellowed after Shino's comment. "Maybe you're right," she mumbled, turning back to her mixing bowl._

_"Don't get all depressed, Mai," Shino said gently, wanting to cheer her up. "That guy's no good for you, anyway. I mean, what kind of guy just ignores a girl who very obviously has a crush on him? At the very least, he should let you know how he feels. Heck, if it were me, I'd take you on a date and see how it went."_

_"You would?" Mai instantly perked up, staring at Shino intently._

_"Well, yeah, hypothetically," Shino said slowly, confused by the look Mai was giving him._

_Mai lowered her eyes for a moment, seemingly pondering something. Then she raised her head and blurted, "Shino, will you eat my cookies?"_

_Shino raised his eyebrow slowly. "Um…sure."_

_"That's not what I meant," Mai muttered, glancing between her feet and Shino. He wasn't completely sure, but Shino thought he heard Mai whisper, "You're too nice…"_

_"Mai, is there something you want to ask me?" Shino asked, growing concerned._

_Mai nodded slightly, finally looking Shino in the eye again. "Shino, will you…go on a date with me?"_

—

"Stop it!" Shino shouted, voice breaking with hysterics. He'd been pacing back and forth for the past ten minutes, desperately trying to get rid of his delusion. But as hard as he tried, she wouldn't leave.

"You shouldn't get this worked up, Shino," Mai cautioned sternly, following behind him as he paced. "It's bad for you."

"Get the hell away from me!" Shino suddenly turned on his heel, meaning to shove Mai down with his outstretched arm. However, his arm passed right through her as if she were a ghost. A past ghost.

Smiling slightly, Mai muttered, "You don't want me to get hurt. You love me."

"Loved you," Shino corrected, letting himself be drawn slightly into the illusion. "That was before you tore my heart out and ripped it to shreds."

"Like that other girl, Zoe?" Mai said, smirking darkly.

"Leave her out of it!" Shino exclaimed, feeling a fresh wave of pain course through him.

"Oh, so you can be mad at me but not her?" Mai asked skeptically. "Face it, Shino; we both betrayed you. The saying 'nice guys finish last' doesn't even begin to describe you. You're like a tissue. We use you, then we dispose of you when your usefulness ends."

Shino bit his lip, Mai's words finally getting to him. He was exactly like a tissue, only he'd never be thrown away. Others would just keep using him and using him until he was completely used up and dead inside. His mother had known this all along. She must have known; it would explain her aloofness concerning him. She'd never been proud of him. She'd had a reason to.

Hand shaking slightly, Shino reached into his pocket, feeling his D-Tector nestled inside. Even Digimon were using him to fight their battles. With sudden insight, Shino realized that everything had gone from bad to worse since he'd gotten his D-Tector. And bad had been bad enough…

—

_"Thank you!" Shino said politely to the very helpful (though very nosy) flower saleswoman, exiting the shop with a bouquet of lilacs. Mai's favorite flower. (Fun fact: I'm allergic to lilacs! You'll see why that's ironic in a second.)_

_Shino smiled slightly, thinking of his friend turned girlfriend. He remembered what he'd thought when Mai had first proposed going on a date. _It won't work out. It'll ruin our friendship. I don't feel that way about her.

_How wrong he'd been. From the very first date, Shino had quickly realized the deeper, more intimate feelings he'd harbored for Mai all along. Her raven black hair, her penetrating blue eyes, her impulsive behavior; it all made his heart flutter._

_Gripping his flower bundle tighter, he picked up the pace, anxious to see Mai again. It was nearly their one year anniversary, and Mai had asked Shino to meet her near the pond in the park tonight for a surprise. Shino had gotten the flowers as a little surprise of his own, but he knew that they'd pale in comparison next to Mai's plan. No matter what she had in store, just being with her was special enough for Shino._

_Without conscious effort, Shino had taken off at a sprint toward the park, probably ruining the flowers in the process. Oh well. It was the thought that counted, and Mai would love them regardless._

_Thanks to his natural fast-paced running ability, Shino made it through the park gates at least five minutes faster than he would have walking. Just a quick jog to the pond, and…_

_Shino stopped dead in his tracks. It took his brain a few seconds to process what he was seeing, it made so little sense. But there they were, standing on the bank of the pond, light from the setting sun silhouetting their entwined figures. Mai, always so beautiful, so loyal, was kissing someone else._

_Without thinking, Shino dropped the now-petalless lilacs, rushing at the one kissing HIS Mai. Catching the boy by surprise, Shino shoved him to the ground, nearly causing his to fall into the pond._

_"Shino!" Mai exclaimed, surprised._

_"Bastard…" Shino muttered, glare fixed firmly on the boy in front of him. Upon further inspection, Shino realized that he recognized this boy from his class. It was Kakeru. Mai's old crush._

_Fists clenching, Shino growled, "Stay away from Mai. After all the times you ignored her, how dare you do this. You bastard!"_

_"Chill, man," Kakeru said quickly, pushing himself back to his feet. "She kissed me first."_

_Shino's breath momentarily caught in his throat. "You're lying…"_

_"He's not, Shino," Mai confessed quietly. "I kissed him because I wanted to."_

_For a moment, Shino froze, struck by Mai's icy words. Then he slowly turned toward her, hoping desperately that he could find something in her eyes that would disprove what she'd just said. But all he saw in her blue gaze was pity and regret._

_"Oh," Shino said flatly, lowering his head. "I see."_

_"I'm so sorry, Shino, I didn't mean for it to end like this," Mai continued, sounding truly apologetic. "I was actually already planning to break it off with you tonight. I've…led you on too long."_

_"Led me on?" Shino asked numbly, a hollow pit slowly forming inside his chest._

_"Shino…I'm so sorry," Mai repeated, close to tears now. "I wanted Kakeru so badly. I was willing to try anything to finally get him to notice me. Then I read in some magazine that guys want girls that are hard to get. Unattainable."_

_Shino felt the rip in his chest tearing painfully as he put two and two together. "You used me…to make Kakeru jealous?"_

_"And it sure did work," Kakeru said, slinging his arm over Mai's shoulders. "She was never as alluring as when her hand was in yours. And now that I've had a taste of the wine, I want the whole bottle, if you catch my drift."_

_Shino just nodded, feeling choked up. It was as if someone were gripping his throat, cutting off his air supply. He could barely breathe._

_"Oh Shino, I didn't mean for this to happen!" Mai cried, tears rolling down her cheeks. "I didn't ask him to come here. He followed me. All I wanted to do tonight was tell you the truth and let you hate me as much as you wanted. I didn't mean to hurt you like this."_

_"Yeah, sorry man," Kakeru added, though he didn't sound like he meant it._

_Everything that Mai had said was finally sinking in, though Shino wished he could push it back out. Mai had betrayed him. She'd used him. But worst of all, she'd been his friend._

_Suddenly, Shino felt the need to run. He couldn't face Mai anymore. Even thinking her name left bile in his throat. But he had to say something. Something that would hurt Mai as much as she hurt him. He no longer cared that she'd been his friend. He wanted her to suffer._

_"Goodbye, Mai," he said simply. Then he turned and ran. Past the pond, past the park gates, down the road. Everything passed by in a blur. But he couldn't run from the pain. That stayed with him._

_Suddenly Shino was lying on the ground. Smiling bitterly, he realized that he'd tripped and fallen. Oh well. The ground was as good a place as any to sulk. So he closed his eyes and let the pain consume him._

_Until he heard a sharp thunk on the ground in front of him. Opening his eyes, he saw a green and brown Game Boy-like device lying next to him._ (Note: Shino's D-Tector wasn't originally partially green, but I'm changing it because trees are green, too. Yeah…IGNORE ME!)_ He sat up quickly, wondering who had dropped the quirky device. But no one was around._

_Staring down at the device, he found that he wanted to pick it up. He knew it couldn't be his, but…he felt that it was. So, tentatively, he reached out and grabbed his D-Tector._

—

"Shino!"

Shino jumped, startled out of his flashback by a sudden shout coming from the trees. Realizing he recognized the voice, he turned sharply on his heel, coming face to face with Wizardmon. (Well, technically Shino has to look down because he's taller, but you know what I mean.)

Shino actually breathed a sigh of relief, glad to be in the presence of another corporeal being. He couldn't see Mai flitting around, so he supposed that Wizardmon had broken the illusion. Momentarily. "Looks like you succeeded, Wizardmon," he said, chuckling bitterly. "You drove me insane. Good job."

"Oh, shut up, comrade," Wizardmon snapped, rolling his eyes. "You're not insane. Not yet, anyway. Now calm down and get the hell back to your stupid friends. Then you'll be fine."

Confused, Shino cocked his head, raising an eyebrow. "Aren't you here to…off me?"

"As in kill you?" Wizardmon asked, sounding slightly incredulous. "Well, the thought's certainly crossed my mind, but it would probably do more damage than it's worth."

Now Shino was thoroughly perplexed. "I'd think my death would be beneficial for you. One less Legendary Warrior to worry about."

"Do you want me to kill you? Wait, don't answer that," Wizardmon muttered, sighing in frustration. "Look, I really don't have time to explain this. Please just go back to your friends."

Shino bit his lip, glancing down. "I can't go back. Not when she looks at me like that, like it's all her fault. She doesn't even know about…" Shino trailed off, Mai's illusion momentarily flashing across his vision. He flinched involuntarily and, much to his surprise, so did Wizardmon.

Shaking off the panic in his eyes, Wizardmon grumbled, "You won't make this easy, so I suppose I'll have to explain the situation. You remember Gaomon, right?"

"As if I could forget what you did to him?" Shino retorted bitterly, stung by the memory.

"I really did screw you up. Stupid karma," Wizardmon mumbled to himself. Looking up, he continued, "If you remember him, you'll remember what he said about the damn mark I put on you, about how it would affect me, too, working so hard to drive you crazy because I wanted to prove what a badass I could be. I knew it was a bad idea to get you to kiss her… "

"Obviously, he was wrong," Shino growled, glaring with unconcealed loathing at the wizard Digimon. "I'm seeing freakin' illusions that are one-uping me, and here you stand, cool as a cucumber."

"Do I really look 'cool as a cucumber' to you!" Wizardmon exclaimed, voice cracking slightly. At that moment, Shino began to see through Wizardmon's carefully maintained façade, down to the Digimon he really was. That Digimon DID look troubled, eyes bloodshot and overall appearance more disheveled than usual for a Wizardmon. Shino had never seen Wizardmon like this. Yes, he'd seen him lose his cool, but only out of anger or frustration. Now it was different. It was like he was…cracking. Pulling apart at the seams. Completely losing what he'd worked so hard to form.

"What the hell?" Shino asked slowly, unnerved by the sudden surge of…concern he'd felt for his enemy. "Why is this happening? How could you not know that this would happen!"

"Will you calm down for two seconds!" Wizardmon shouted back, breathing heavily. "You and your hormones! I swear, every little thing is like a battering ram to my skull. I can't take it anymore! And don't get me started with the freaking girls pulling away at your damn heartstrings. Bitches through and through. But I can't blame them, because I helped all this drama escalate! I did all of this to myself! Everything! Ever since I killed Se—"

"Shino, is that you?"

Shino froze, recognizing Zoe's voice coming from somewhere behind him, drifting through the trees. Panicd swept through him when he heard rustling in the bushes, followed by, to his slight surprise, two sets of footfalls. Who had accompanied Zoe? Actually, if wasn't that hard to guess who else would want to see him…

Shino turned, meaning to tell Wizardmon to leave. The last thing he needed was to explain the Digimon's presence to the others. But Wizardmon was already gone.

Seconds later, Zoe burst through the trees, followed more slowly by Kouichi. Shino tried to relax his suddenly tensed muscles so that his friends wouldn't be hurt by the tension he felt being around them now, but their expressions told him that he was unsuccessful.

Figuring he'd better start conversation before they did, Shino muttered, "You look like you're feeling better, Kouichi. I'm glad." He really had been worried about Kouichi and was relieved to see him looking less depressed, despite his anxiety about his friend's reaction to…what had occurred.

"And you look like you're feeling worse," Kouichi replied, concern practically tangible in the air around him.

Shino smiled faintly, realizing he must look crazier than he originally thought. "Do I?" he asked, trying not to sound bitter.

During his exchange with Kouichi, Shino could feel Zoe's gaze burning a hole through him. He knew he had to face her eventually, so he shifted his gaze toward her. What he saw made him gasp.

"What?" Zoe jumped, startled by Shino's gasp. She turned her head left and right, but Shino knew she'd never see Mai standing next to her, examining her critically.

"A blonde?" Mai stated, raising an eyebrow at Shino. "C'mon! We both know you don't like blondes. But of course she's 'different,' right?"

Shino's eyes widened in fear. He was still seeing Mai even with his friends around. But…what if they were an illusion, too? And what about Wizardmon? Was he so far gone that he couldn't trust what was real or fake anymore?

"Oh Shino, I'm so sorry," Zoe apologized, misinterpreting his horrified expression as directed at her. "I just…I was so scared. That's no excuse, but I thought I was going to lose Kouichi. I couldn't lose him again. I know that it wasn't right to take advantage of you, and I feel horrible about it, even if I did it out of desperation. But…I knew I had to break your heart eventually, and that scared me, too. So I used your affection, like some slut."

"Got that right!" Mai chirped happily.

Kouichi grabbed Zoe's hand, squeezing it gently. This small gesture sent a jolt of jealousy through Shino. Why bother fighting the illusions anymore? They were all he had left, so he might as well indulge them.

"What is it about him, anyway?" Shino asked slowly, hands balling into fists. "Maybe it's the fact that he was here first. Maybe a walk on the dark side is better than…splinters. God, my element's lame!"

"I like trees," Mai stated.

"Shino, I don't understand," Zoe said, eyes wide with confusion. "You're acting so…weird."

"He's comparing himself to me," Kouichi said quietly. "And don't sell yourself short; Arbormon's pretty powerful."

"Compared to you, he's not," Shino grumbled, arms trembling. "I pale in comparison to you, so calm, so collected, so damn kind. Of course she'd pick you over me. I was on the rebound, anyway…"

"That's it!" Mai exclaimed, pounding her fist into her other hand. "No wonder you latched onto this girl so quickly! You were lonely!"

Shino hadn't considered that before, but it did make sense. "No wonder…"

"You're not making sense, Shino," Zoe muttered, frightened by the far-off look in Shino's eye. "Look at me!"

Shino looked, for once allowing all of his buried emotions to show on his face. What was the harm if this was an illusion? "I guess I should come out and say this, though I think you already know at this point. I love you, Zoe. I know you don't feel the same, but I can't help it. Seeing you with Kouichi, I can't help but feel inferior because I know I had a shot with you, and I know I blew it. And…I'm not sorry I kissed you, Zoe. I'm sorry that Kouichi found out about it."

"Whoa!" Mai exclaimed, stunned by Shino's last statement. "I think you got a few extra balls along with that Warrior spirit!"

Zoe was shocked as well, giving Kouichi the chance to cut in. "You know, up until this point, I've been restraining myself from completely going off on you because you look so miserable," he began, face expressionless. "But hearing you say that, I'm not all that mad anymore, though I probably should be. I kind of…sympathize with you. There was a time when I thought she'd pick you over me, after all."

Zoe glanced at Kouichi questioningly. She hadn't heard that story before. Shino just smirked. "So you aren't gonna go all avenging Edward Cullen on my Jacob-y ass?" he asked sarcastically.

"A Twilight reference?" Kouichi said flatly. (Well, you are kinda pale.) "I don't sparkle, though." (Good point!)

"Well, since you're not planning on killing me," Shino began, grabbing Zoe's arm, "I suppose I can get away with one more hug before I slip away entirely." Then he pulled Zoe forward, wrapping his arms tightly around her.

To Zoe, the hug felt desperate. "What do you mean, slip away?" she asked quietly, pushing gently out of Shino's embrace.

"It means you sent him over the edge, Barbie!" Mai accused, unheard by all but Shino.

Smirking, Shino muttered, "You should know. It's illusions like you that I'll be lost in, but you seem so damn real that I don't care anymore. So long, rational thought!"

"Shino, stop!" Zoe cried, shoving Shino back before he could get his arms around her again. Stung by the hurt in Shino's eyes, she continued gently, "Shino, why are you acting like this? It's crazy."

"Newsflash: I'm crazy!" Shino shouted, losing his patience. "Why are you being so difficult? You're not a very good illusion."

"Illusion?" Zoe repeated, confused. "I'm right here, Shino! How would you be able to hug me if I were an illusion?"

"I have a vivid imagination," Shino replied, smiling slightly. "You feel real, though."

"Don't I get a hug?" Mai asked, pouting.

"Wait your turn, Mai," Shino grumbled, glaring at Mai. Couldn't she butt out for once?

"Who are you talking to?" Kouichi suddenly asked, stepping forward. "Who's Mai?"

"A character from Yu-gi-oh," Shino bit back sarcastically. Why was everyone ruining his moment?

"I'm serious, Shino," Kouichi pressed.

"Oh, looks like Kouichi's going Nancy Drew," Shino continued his teasing, noticing Kouichi's thoughtful look. (Wow, haven't used that joke in awhile!)

"Seriously, Shino, who are you talking to?" Zoe asked, glancing right through Mai. "No one else is here but you, me, and Kouichi."

"I'm not sure he realizes that, Zo," Kouichi said slowly, staring at Shino's wild, bloodshot eyes. "He's seeing…someone over there, someone he knows isn't real. By that logic, I guess he thinks we're not real, either."

"He's seeing things?" Zoe muttered, concern replacing her annoyance. "Oh my god…"

"Please don't get that guilty look on your face," Shino pleaded, not even wanting to see fake Zoe upset. "It's not your fault. I mean, rejection from you sucks, but not enough to drive me nuts."

"Then why is this happening?" Zoe asked curiously.

Shino bit his lip, glancing between his two friends. If they were just illusions, why were they asking so many questions? Mai certainly seemed to know everything. Maybe…they really were real. Well, whether they were real or not, he couldn't tell them the true reason for his diminished state of mind. The thought made him feel sick with betrayal. Perhaps he could tell them a partial version of the truth.

"Mai." Shino glanced at fake Mai, realizing the story of their disasterous relationship would suffice to distract the others from the real issue, which they'd probably figure out if this inquiry continued. He didn't particularly want to tell the tale, but it was better than the alternative. They already knew about the mark thanks to Witchmon, and it wouldn't take much to put two and two together. He'd be a traitor to them. "She was this girl I used to be friends with."

"Friends?" Mai repeated, raising an eyebrow.

Shino ignored her and continued his story, keeping it as brief as possible. Of course, Zoe was still horror-stricken by the end.

"Oh no," she muttered, wide eyes shining with guilt. "I screwed up bigger than I thought. I'm as bad as Mai."

"Hey!" Mai exclaimed, insulted.

"No, what you did definitely rates lower than what she did on the whore-bitch meter." Realizing his mistake too late, Shino added, "Not that you're a whore-bitch! Heck, I probably shouldn't have called Mai one, either."

"Jerk." Shino was beginning to notice that Mai's voice was getting fainter and her body was fading away, bit by bit. Zoe and Kouichi weren't.

"You called her a whore-bitch?" Kouichi stated incredulously, stifling a bemused chuckle.

"She was dissing you guys," Shino explained. "She asked why I'd started hanging out with 'that group of weirdos,' so I said I'd rather hang out with you guys than a whore-bitch like her. She slapped me then ran off crying."

"I hope your cheek still stings!" Mai's voice was barely above a whisper now.

"Yeah, that might have been a little harsh," Kouichi agreed mildly.

"Stop joking around, guys!" Zoe shouted, eyes beginning to tear up. "This isn't funny. None of this is funny!"

"I know, Zoe," Kouichi said, smile fading. "There is something that I need to say to Shino." Taking a calming breath, he continued, "Wow, I guess I understand you better now. You always seemed like you were keeping something or other from us, and it's kind of a relief to know what's been bothering you. That makes this whole situation a lot…easier to accept and forget about.

"And yeah, that means no jealous rampage." Here Kouichi paused, lowered his voice. "Just don't kiss her again. If you do…I can't forgive you."

Shino sighed. "I know, and I won't. Heck, at this point I'm beginning to wonder whether girls are even worth it."

"Oh god, I've poisoned his faith in women!" Zoe cried.

"Zoe, it's fine," Kouichi and Shino said simultaneously.

"I was joking," Shino added, glancing at Kouichi. He'd decided that Kouichi was real from what he'd said. And heck, if he were hallucinating, why would Kouichi even be there? By this logic, Zoe was real as well. If that was true, then he needed one last thing before he would be able to give up on Zoe. Forever.

"Kouichi," he began hesitantly. "Could I maybe get one more hug, please?"

Kouichi's eyes widened slightly, as if he were shocked that Shino had asked his permission just to hug Zoe. Glancing down he thought guiltily, _I never wanted to_ _do this to him. Why can't he be happy, too?_ Then, taking a deep breath, he looked up, putting a slight smile on his face. "I won't stop you."

Misinterpreting Kouichi's edginess as suppressed jealousy, Shino quickly turned to Zoe, who still seemed a bit upset. "You shouldn't forgive me," Zoe mumbled, staring at her feet. "I thought you never would after the look you gave me when I'd…"

She didn't finish, but Shino knew she meant the glare he'd given her right after she'd kissed him. It had only lasted for a moment (until the emptiness had set in) but for that one moment, he'd hated her. And he felt awful about it. "Is that why you're so upset?" he asked. "Because you think I hate you?"

"You should hate me," Zoe replied, shoulders shaking with silent sobs. "I've been making you miserable all this time."

"Zoe, you shouldn't feel guilty because you don't love me like you do Kouichi," Shino said firmly, gripping Zoe's shoulders. "I'll be fine. Maybe, someday, I'll find someone else out there for me. I don't know if I'll ever stop loving you, but I'll always be your friend. Sound good?"

Zoe nodded, raising her head to meet Shino's gaze. Frowning she realized she had to look up slightly to do so. "Since when were you taller than me?" she asked, pouting.

Shino straightened up and realized that he could indeed see the top of Zoe's head. "Huh, I guess I had a growth spurt or something."

"Geez, you guys are all gonna get taller than me," Zoe mumbled, burying her head in Shino's chest. "Stupid guys."

Despite the tears now dampening Shino's shirt, he pressed Zoe tighter against him, soaking in her every detail. No, he couldn't stop loving Zoe. Unlike Mai, she'd come to fix things. She'd come despite her fear, like a real friend, because she cared about him. And Kouichi had as well, even though he probably felt like curling up in a corner and avoiding everyone out of sheer guilt. And then there was the rest of the gang, probably waiting impatiently back in the tunnels for his return.

_Maybe this D-Tector isn't such a bad luck charm after all,_ Shino thought reflectively. After all, this thing had given him friends when he'd really needed some, and they were better friends than he could've asked for. _They made me happy again._

Suddenly, Shino realized something. While he'd been lost in his pondering, Mai had completely disappeared. She was gone, and he felt like this had been the closure he'd so desperately needed. Now he could move on in more ways than one. "Sorry for growing, Zee."

Kouichi smiled slightly then, glancing at me, inquired, "So, time for a new arc?" (Hang on, there's still one little scene left!) "What else is there to cover this arc?" (Forget about Nina?) "Yes, actually." (_*sigh*_)

—

_~It was horrible, Dusky!~_ Nina cried, tears streaming down her face. At least, it sounded like she was crying to Duskmon. He couldn't be sure. He couldn't physically see her, after all.

"Kouichi was too much for you." Duskmon didn't say it like a question. If he knew one thing about Kouichi, it was that his will was powerful.

Nina smirked. _~He did put up quite a fight, even after I'd liberated him. Every time he struck one of his 'friends,' he'd rebel against me ten times harder. It was all I could do to keep him contained._

_~But why?~_ Nina asked, sounding genuinely curious. _~Why doesn't he want to be my kitty? Why does he hate me? Why…?~_

Duskmon shrugged, though he knew the answer. Atonement. It was the same as always. Kouichi wanted to prove that he was worthy of the title Legendary Warrior of Darkness without having to rely on Nina for power. Duskmon could understand the feeling.

_~I know why,~_ Nina suddenly growled, sounding fierce now. _~It's because of his stupid puppy of a brother. He corrupted my kitty and drove me away. He's MY kitty! I don't care if they're twins! That's just a useless human title.~_

"Not for them," Duskmon muttered. "Those two are stuck together like glue."

_~Then we have to unstick them, and the only way to do that is to kill that stupid puppy,~_ Nina said, attempting an evil chuckle, though it sounded more bubbly than evil._ ~Not to mention I'll be getting revenge on Ellie for interfering.~_

"Yeah," Duskmon mumbled half-heartedly.

_~Dusky?~_ Nina said curiously, sounding worried. _~Are you okay?~_

No, Duskmon didn't think he was okay. Renamon had left about ten minutes ago, promising that she would return after she'd reported back with Ilsemon. Surprisingly, Duskmon felt a slight…ache in his chest from her absence. It was hard deciphering these new emotions, but Duskmon just assumed it was natural to feel a bit empty when a friend left you. Right?

Those had been his thoughts when Nina had carrined straight into Duskmon's mind, shocking away all other feelings but surprise. He hadn't thought Nina would ever come back after she'd reached her goal, not that he'd expected her to complete her more far-reaching plans. Not with Kouichi's help, at least. If he'd actually killed Kouji, Kouichi would be in no condition to do anything anymore. Nina didn't understand this, but Duskmon did.

Though Duskmopn felt a bit sorry for Nina, her failed plans were the least of his problems. He'd assumed that his damned conscience was weighing on his mind because Nina had left, taking with her his shield of indifference. But her return hadn't helped a thing. Duskmon could still feel a cloud of guilt enshrouding him, choking him with its intensity. Nina couldn't save him now. He was on his own.

But there was still Renamon. In her presence, he felt…good. Better than he'd ever felt.

_~Dusky, are you blushing?~_ Nina asked slowly, noticing Duskmon's reddening cheeks.

"Of course not!" Duskmon snapped, coming back to the present. Changing the subject, he asked, "So, what's the new plan?"

Nina giggled._ ~I knew you'd be on board for a new strategy! Actually, I do have an idea forming, but for it to work, you need to make sure Ilsemon doesn't kill any of kitty's little friends.~_

"She won't kill them," Duskmon reassured. "They're too much 'fun' for her to get rid of."

_~She does enjoy her torture,~_ Nina muttered thoughtfully. _~Well, a little mind-numbing pain probably wouldn't kill any of those kids at this point. Just go find Ilsemon and tell her to stage a full scale attack, one that'll bring all those little Warriors out at once. I'm confident that Ilsemon can defeat and capture them, but remind her not to get too carried away with her little mind games and drive any of them off the edge. That would put a dent in my plan!~_

"And what exactly is your plan?" Duskmon asked, in the back of his mind wondering when Renamon would finally return. Oh god, he was becoming obsessed…

Nina laughed gleefully._ ~I don't know why I didn't think of it before! If kitty doesn't want his friends hurt, then they don't have to be! All I need to do is liberate them as well, then have them kill Kouji!~_

—

_madjack89:_ Uh oh, looks like the gang's got more troubles to come, eh!

_Gotsumon:_ A full scale attack? Crap, we're not ready!

_Witchmon:_ Then we'll just get ready! After all, we're in your capable hands!

_Gotsumon:_ Thanks, Witchmon! You're a good friend!

_Witchmon:_ …DAMN IT!

_Shino:_ Yeah…anyway, looks like I'm all better now. Sorry for worrying you guys.

_Takuya: _What I want to know is what the hell was up with Wizardmon? And who's Se?

_Kouji:_ He obviously didn't finish saying the name, idiot.

_Takuya:_ Hey!

_Kouji:_ I have to make a comeback and act like a bigger asshole than normal to make up for the past few chapters or my fangirls will be very displeased…you dumbass.

_Takuya:_ Grrr…

_Zoe:_ Well, looks like the twin saga's finally come to a close.

_Kouji and Kouichi:_ Thank god…

_Kira:_ So what's gonna happen next, Madjack?

_madjack89:_ Well Kira, in the next arc, the Resistance and Ilsemon's forces shall clash in a raging battle! Meanwhile, you guys will finally come face to face with Ilsemon! Will you win? Will you lose? Will Akari ever get over missing Marine Day?

_JP:_ I swear, if Xros Wars boots us out of your favorite anime spot…

_madjack89:_ Oh no, that won't happen. You guys are too awesome!

_Takuya:_ We are pretty awesome!

_Kouji:_ Cocky idiot.

_Takuya:_ Shut up, Kouji!

_madjack89:_ See ya later, guys! And remember, Taiki's ADORAB LE!


	36. Ch 36: Pumped Up

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 36: Pumped Up**

_Takuya and Kira:_ Happy late birthday, Madjack!

_madjack89:_ Aw, thanks, you two!

_Zoe:_ We made you a cake!

_Dai:_ It's chocolate!

_madjack89:_ I do loves me some chocolate cake!

_Kira:_ Yeah, we even let Taki help out this year! I measured out the baking soda, and then he got to pour it into the mixing bowl! We cheered for him and everything!

_Takuya:_ …You guys are mean.

_Kouji:_ They wouldn't even let me in the kitchen because they said I'd give the cake "bad vibes."

_Dai:_ We were making a happy cake and…well…it's a happy cake!

_Kouji: *sigh*_ Take your damn present already, Madjack. They wouldn't let me help out with the cake, so I got you something on my own.

_madjack89: *gasp*_ You got me something for my birthday? _*rips open present*_ There's nothing in this box.

_Kouji:_ That's a decoy. I actually called up the main characters from that new series that you're so into, Slayers.

_Neji:_ I helped out. It's up to them whether they show up or not.

_madjack89:_ You got me the Slayers gang? Aw, thank you so much, guys! *_hugs Kouji and Neji*_

_Kouji:_ Uh-huh…

_Neji:_ You're welcome.

_madjack89:_ Okay, time for reviews! Oh, and guess who else I got from TobiGB!

_Xemnas:_ _*glaring at me*_

_*break*_

_garnettfox:_ In all honesty, I'm not sure when or how I'm gonna bring Darkgra into the story yet, but I know it must be epic! (_Darkgramon: *nods*_ Yeah.) Sorry about Shino's not-so-happy ending, but I'll make him happy…someday. Anyway, TTFN right back at ya! (I love Tigger!)

_13wolfsbane:_ Aw, I won't tell him, Yin! That would be mean! (_Shino:_ Hooray, I finally get respect after revealing my back story!) That's usually how it works. (_Shino:_ True.) Do you really think I'd kill Kouji? …Don't answer that. Anyway, thanks for reviewing, Yin! And thanks, 13!

_DigiBleach:_ Exactly! Kouji must live so he can be abused! (_Kouji: *sigh*_) I can't answer that question about "Se," but it's kinda obvious, you know? (Too much suspense and your heads will explode!) Okay, thanks for reviewing!

_GoldenDragon326:_ (_Kouichi:_ Um, I don't think kidnapping some random girl through a plot hole would make Shino any happier.) (_Shino:_ Yeah, not really. Thanks for your concern, though.) (_Dai:_ I have a giant hammer!) (_Kira:_ And I have…my fists!) (_Shino:_ I have my fists, too.) (_JP:_ Technically, we all have our fists. Oh, and guys…Thunder Fist.) (_Others:_ Good point.) Can I get a word in edgewise, guys? (_Everyone:_ Sorry.) Eh, it's all good. Alright, thanks for reviewing! (_Kouji:_ Friendship? Really? What does this look like, Yu-gi-oh Abridged?) (_Takuya:_ Burn!)

_61wisampa:_ I gotta agree with Frontier being the all-time best season of Digimon, but I really do like Xros Wars. It's a nice change to see a Digidestined using his brain! (lol) Yeah, no more love triangles…I think. (Sometimes I can't even remember what's going on in this story…) Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_Aldamonburst:_ Hm…peacemaker…still, I wish she could do something MORE useful. And I know Zen can use the weapons, I just want to pick on him! (lol) Thanks for reviewing, Burst!

_Taeniaea:_ Thanks!

_mudkipmon:_ Yeah, Kiriha's eyes worry me. It's like he's staring into your soul…anyway, back to the review! Yay cookies! Hey Dusky, you're the best villain ever! (_Duskmon:_ Heh…like I didn't already know I was badass.) Kinda cocky there? Oh well, he deserves to be! Thanks for the review!

_hazeleyedharmony:_ (_Shino:_ Great, now I'm emo…) (_Kouji: *glares*_) I'm going to a place called McDaniel, and it would only be creepy if you showed up outside my dorm room. (lol) Yeah, I kinda see how college cuts into writing time, but I'll make it work. Thanks for reviewing, hazel!

_fg1fg:_ Yeah, Shippuden flashbacks get a little tedious, but eventually something will happen…right? (lol) (_Kouji: _They weren't good.) Aw, poor little crazy Kouji! (_Kouji: *sigh*_) Dusky's feelings are a little complicated, so we'll just have to see what happens! _*wink*_ Glad you liked the chapter! Thanks for reviewing!

_silver fire wolf:_ Ah, a Sonic OC. I've never seen or played anything Sonic related, but I know he's a speedy hedgehog thingy! And don't get all ticked off, older brother person! Thanks for reviewing!

_Shadowfox94:_ Yes, so many crazy twists and turns to come! (_JP:_ Wait, I haven't gone crazy. Yeah! _*does little victory dance*_) I don't know, you came kind of close in episode 24. (_JP:_ Don't ruin this for me, Madjack.) Okay…yeah Kouji, your FTTP is awesome! (_Kouji: *sigh*_ It's not the whole connection thing, it's the fact that Takuya named it that annoys me.) You would be annoyed by that. (_Duskmon:_ I'm already kinda neutral. I wouldn't give a crap about any of this if it weren't for the fact that I owe Nina.) Plus you're obsessed with Chief! (_Duskmon: *glares*_) Thanks for reviewing! Go Xros Wars!

_TobiGB:_ Madara, shut up. Seriously. (_Nina:_ Hi Madara!) No, Nina! (_Nina:_ Aw…) Hm…the gang would make an interesting Organization XIII. (_Xemnas:_ I would never let any of these children into my organization.) Yet you let Demyx in? (_Xemnas:_ Shut up!) Thanks for reviewing, GB! (_Kouichi:_ No, Madara…)

_*break*_

_madjack89:_ Hey Xemnas, know what time it is?

_Xemnas:_ Time for you to let me go?

_madjack89:_ No, it's time for a new chapter!

_Sasori:_ Told you it wouldn't work.

_Xemnas:_ _*glare*_

_JP: *hands Xemnas a piece of paper*_

_Xemnas: *reads*_ Hey Sasori, you know what real art is? An explosion.

_Sasori:_ God damn it, no it's not!_ *starts bickering*_

_Kouji:_ Did you really need to do that?

_JP:_ No, but I wanted to get Madjack something for her b-day, too. I thought watching Sasori bicker might be fun for her.

_madjack89:_ Thanks, JP!

_Pein: *sigh*_ It's like being at the base all over again…

—

"You know, I can honestly say that I never thought I'd be going to war at the age of thirteen," Shino commented, smirking slightly. "My, how the world has changed."

He was pleased to get a faint chuckle from Zoe, but it didn't last long. Things had been a bit…strained between them since he'd nearly gone insane one day earlier. Of course, she assumed it was her fault that this had happened, though that was completely false. Shino wished he could tell Zoe the truth so she wouldn't have to feel needlessly guilty, but he couldn't find the courage to admit that he'd been lying to everyone for so long. He knew they'd forgive him, but would they be able to trust him again?

Shino shook off these thoughts quickly. The last thing he should be doing after almost losing his mind was start reflecting on these touchy subjects. Besides, he WAS going to war in a few hours. He should have been taking this time to concentrate and prepare himself. Instead, he'd decided to take a stroll down the tunnels with Zoe, getting Kouichi's permission beforehand.

He still remembered the other's startled expressions when Kouichi had granted Zoe's request to talk with him alone. Of course, no one but Zoe and Kouichi knew how close he'd come to the brink yesterday. Well, Kouji might have found out from Kouichi. Thanks to their "FTTP" or whatever they had, it wasn't easy for them to keep secrets from each other. And they'd been discussing something last night…

"Are you alright, Shino?" Zoe suddenly asked, drawing his attention back to her anxious face.

Shino sighed heavily. She'd asked this same question of him nearly fifty times now. But that was just the way Zoe was; she worried too much. "I'm fine, Zee," he replied, truly meaning it. One thing he had told the others was his and Mai's story. Kouji had been right; it felt extremely good to finally share his bottled-up thoughts on that subject. And heck, at least Mai hadn't died. Not like what had happened to Kouji. Or Kira. Or Dai. Or…anyone. Compared to everyone else, he'd gotten off easy, so why worry about Mai anymore?

Zoe searched Shino's face for a moment, probably trying to figure out if he was telling her the truth. Shino was beginning to get a little uncomfortable when Zoe muttered, "I guess you won't do anything stupid."

"Huh?" Shino tilted his head, feeling perplexed.

Smiling slightly, Zoe explained, "Kouichi and I were really scared for you yesterday, Shino. I can't speak for Kouichi, but I had no idea what was happening to you. It was horrifying, seeing you like that. I just want to make sure that you really are fine now and that you're not going to do anything really crazy during this battle."

Shino tried to respond, but Zoe pressed on. "That means no trying to take metaphorical bullets for me or anything like that. In case you've forgotten, you're the rookie with your Spirits and I'm a trained professional. I can handle myself. I'm powerful, I'm fast, and, unlike you, I can fly. So just concentrate on keeping yourself safe, not me."

"Alright, alright, I get the picture," Shino said quickly, holding up his hands in surrender. "If someone has you at gunpoint or sword point or whatever point, I promise not to help you. In fact, I will ignore you entirely."

Zoe humphed, but in a good-natured way. "I'm glad to hear it, both from you AND Kouichi."

That made Shino smirk. "You told Kouichi all of that, too?"

"You two are so self-sacrificing that you leave me no choice," Zoe retorted, sighing. "Sometimes I really wonder how I could be worth all your troubles."

Shino could tell her exactly why she was worth his trouble, but he thought that might be overstepping his friend boundaries, so he simply smiled and said, "You're a better person than you think." Jokingly, he added, "I mean, you're good enough for the Prince of Darkness."

Zoe rolled her eyes. "I think you'd better stick with Chief."

—

_~One day earlier…_

"So, those are Nina's conditions," Ilsemon mused thoughtfully. "She does have quite an intriguing mind. I wonder what she could be planning for those children."

Duskmon remained silent, glaring angrily at his feet. God, did he hate Ilsemon! Even being in her presence annoyed him. "I wouldn't tell you even if I knew what she was planning."

_~Dusky, don't be rude!~_ Nina scolded mildly. _~She's trying to help us!~_

_Trying to help YOU,_ Duskmon corrected, not talking to Nina out loud in Ilsemon's presence, or in…

_~Aw, that's soooo cute!~_ Nina squealed as Duskmon glanced at Renamon for about the fiftieth time. He'd gone to find Ilsemon as soon as Nina had explained her plan's prerequisites, partially because he'd rather this whole mess of a war be over, and partially because Renamon had gone to see Ilsemon and he would be able to see her again, standing off in a corner, listening silently to his explanations.

_Nothing's cute,_ Duskmon thought grouchily. _She looks mad at me for some reason._ The obvious note of displeasure in her expression made Duskmon feel a strange mixture of fear and…guilt. Fear that Renamon hated him now, for whatever reason, and guilt for…whatever it was he'd done. This was so confusing…

_~I don't think she likes me,~_ Nina muttered, sounding a bit sad. _~She looked kinda happy to see you until you mentioned me.~_

_She looked happy?_ That surprised Duskmon. He'd thought that Renamon had only become his…friend (What a foreign word…) because of some misplaced pity she'd felt for him, not out of any genuine feelings for him. He was the one with the weird, sudden obsession…

"I suppose you wouldn't," Ilsemon muttered, smiling slowly. "But you do know what she's planning to do with them, don't you?"

_Damn her!_

_~Dusky, be nice!~_

Keeping his revulsion in check, Duskmon bit back the nastier response he'd had for Ilsemon. "I might."

Ilsemon chuckled softly. "I figured as much. Well, I believe I can keep within Nina's terms. Capture the Legendary Warriors without resorting to killing any of them. And a bit of torture is acceptable?"

"As long as you don't go too far," Duskmon growled.

_~Geez Dusky, I've never seen you get this irritable at Ilsemon before!~_ Nina exclaimed, confused. _~Why're you so grouchy today?~_

Duskmon knew why he felt this sudden overbearing hatred for Ilsemon, but he didn't want Nina to gush about it, as he knew she would if he told her. He hated Ilsemon even more because of what she'd done to Renamon. She'd completely destroyed Renamon's life. She could have been happy, but Ilsemon had taken all of that away from her for some unexplained reason. And Duskmon hated her for it. _No reason._

Ilsemon chuckled, bringing Duskmon's thoughts back to the present again. "Oh, I think I'll be able to restrain myself. It is quite a shame, though. Their minds are all full of such sweet turbulence and pain…but for Nina, I'll merely scratch the surface of what I could do to them. I was actually planning a full scale attack, so that part won't be hard to accomplish."

"Great," Duskmon said, trying to sound a bit less irritable for Nina's sake. "Thank you for your cooperation, Ilsemon."

"No, Duskmon, thank you for…playing the messenger boy," Ilsemon taunted superiorly.

_Damn her,_ Duskmon thought as he practically stomped out of Ilsemon's sight. _I swear, I hope those kids DO manage to kill her!_

_~Oh, Dusky,~_ Nina muttered, sighing.

"Duskmon." Duskmon instantly stopped, frozen in place by the harsh note in Renamon's voice. What had he done?

He turned slightly, and there she was, returning his stare coolly._ Say something._ He had to remind himself to talk now? God, this was so stupid. "Yes, Renamon?"

"Wait for me out here," she replied, her words clipped. "I want to say something to Nina."

_~Oh, I knew it!~_ Nina groaned. _~She doesn't like me!~_

Duskmon wasn't paying the least bit of attention to Nina. Could it be that Renamon really wasn't mad at him? He was momentarily flooded with relief, then more confusion. He really did need her now, didn't he? Why was that? Why did he need her? He'd never needed anyone, so why…?

"Very well," Duskmon said, sitting down with his back against the wall. "I'll wait here."

—

"This'll be so exciting!" Dai squealed happily, bouncing up and down in place.

Hotaru couldn't exactly share Dai's enthusiasm. "Someone's going to get hurt."

Dai glanced at his cousin sympathetically. "It's just like you to be so pessimistic about stuff like this, but you don't have to get so freaked out. We're going to be fine!"

"Not all of us," Hotaru countered, shaking his head. "I've been through 'wars' like this before. Sure, we might win, but there'll be casualties, and I can't help worrying over who won't come back from this. If it's anyone from the gang…if it's you…"

"Don't think about that if it bothers you!" Dai retorted, smiling broadly. "Just stay positive!"

"Is anyone else getting a glass half empty/half full vibe here?" Witchmon asked, glancing at Dragramon and JP, who both nodded in agreement.

"You should've seen Taru earlier," JP muttered, looking a bit troubled. "He was pacing around and getting himself all worked up. If this keeps up, he'll either have a panic attack before the battle's even started or try to do everything himself and get hurt. Really hurt. So doctors, what are your prescriptions for such a troubled mind?"

"Well, I have one method that you can help me with," Witchmon said, reaching into JP's back pocket, much to his shock and discomfort, and retrieving a chocolate bar.

"You could've asked ME to get that for you," JP mumbled, blushing with embarrassment.

"Yeah, I could've," Witchmon agreed sarcastically, unpeeling the bar and discarding the wrapper. Then, with swift precision, she leaped lightly forward, landed in front of Hotaru, and shoved the chocolate into his mouth before he could lift a finger to stop her.

Surprised and confused, Hotaru just stood there, the bottom half of the chocolate bar still hanging lopsidedly out of his mouth. Both Dai and JP chuckled at the sight, while Witchmon looked pleased. "Chocolate: the happy snack!"

"My turn!" Dragramon exclaimed, suddenly flapping her wings to lift herself off the ground. Then she shot herself at Hotaru, opening her arms wide to embrace him. However, she misjudged how fast she was going and ended up knocking Hotaru to the ground, nearly causing him to choke on his chocolate bar.

"Sorry, Taru!" Dragramon apologized sheepishly. "I thought a glomp might help you feel better. I guess Digimon glomps are too much for a human to take!"

"By the way, in case you guys don't know, a glomp is like a cross between a bear hug and a running tackle!" Dai explained to all you guys out there cheerfully.

"You would know that, Dai," JP muttered, rolling his eyes.

Hotaru lifted himself into a sitting position, a small smile lighting up his face. "You know, now that I think about it, we're in just as much danger down here as we are up there."

"I doubt Ilsemon's army's gonna be bombarding us with chocolately glomps," JP commented, then frowned slightly at what he'd said. "Wow, that sounded wrong…"

"See Hotaru, everything will be fine!" Dai said, ignoring JP. "We're gonna beat Ilsemon and all her little lackeys!"

"Yeah," Hotaru replied, smiling despite his still gnawing concern. _Hopefully…_

—

Wizardmon limped slowly through the halls of the RMS, beaten and tired. No, Shino's anxieties were no longer bombarding him, but that didn't mean he couldn't be haunted by his own thoughts.

Smiling faintly, Wizardmon remembered the last time he'd been happy, nearly three years ago, when Impmon had forced him to travel into the human world with him in order to help a girl he'd met. He hadn't understood at first why Impmon would care so much about a random human girl he'd barely known for one day. Then he'd met her as well.

He'd been completely awestruck by her. Her light, her happiness, all of it poured into whoever she met, filling them with joy as well. At least, that's how Wizardmon had felt. Before he'd killed her.

Wizardmon no longer flinched when his memory conjured up the sight of her broken, bleeding body, lying limp in the street. After all, it always sat at the back of his mind, disturbing his thoughts whether he was awake or asleep. Reminding him that he was a monster.

He should've thanked Shino for all the suffering he'd been put through. It was what he deserved.

"What happened to you?" Wizardmon jumped, startled by Duskmon's sudden question. He hadn't realized that the dark swordsman had been sitting against the wall to his right, staring quizzically at him. "Did you do something to your leg?" Duskmon prompted, pointing out the fact that Wizardmon had been limping.

Wizardmon was only limping due to exhaustion, but there was something more pressing that he needed to address. "Why the hell do you care?" he snapped, glaring at the haphazard excuse for a Digimon. He'd never liked Duskmon. No one did.

Duskmon's eyes narrowed slowly. "Maybe I don't care. I just thought it would be unlucky on our part if you aren't able to fight tomorrow due to injury."

"Our part?" Wizardmon raised a brow at that. "Since when were you such a team player? You hate all of us, and you probably hope that I'm hurt so that there's a better chance of me dying tomorrow. And what fight are you talking about, anyway?"

Duskmon grumbled something under his breath, clearly irritated now. "Ilsemon's sending everyone out full force tomorrow to stage an attack against the Resistance. Of course, that's just to keep the other Digimon busy so she can get her hands on the Warrior brats."

Wizardmon sighed heavily. What rotten luck. He'd been hoping to get a day off tomorrow after what had happened. However, one good thing might come from this battle. "Maybe those kids will finally kill you, Duskmon. I know that'd make me feel better."

Oddly enough, Duskmon didn't give an angry retort. He just lowered his head, suddenly seeming…upset? No, he couldn't be. Wizardmon knew as well as anyone that Duskmon was impossible to perturb. That's why he was so confused when Duskmon muttered bitterly, "You're right. I should be dead. It'd be better for everyone if I was…damn it all!"

Duskmon suddenly leaped to his feet, looking furious now. "Damn it all to hell! Why can't all of this just stop? I hate it! Damn it!"

Wizardmon backed up slowly, disturbed by Duskmon's tirade. He seemed like he was about ready to kill someone. He seemed…insane.

"Duskmon!" Wizardmon turned sharply and found Renamon standing behind him, glaring at Duskmon. Wait, not glaring. She looked…concerned? What the hell had happened after he'd gone to confront Shino? Had everyone gone crazy?

Wizardmon continued to stare, perplexed, as Renamon rushed to Duskmon's side, placing a paw lightly on his shoulder. He expected Duskmon to swat Renamon's paw away, but he didn't seem to mind her touch. She actually seemed to be calming him down. "It's alright," she murmured reassuringly. "It's okay…"

For some reason, an image of Gatomon's smiling face suddenly filled Wizardmon's mind. Whenever he'd felt bad about something, Gatomon had always been the one to make him feel better by doing just what Renamon was doing. Comforting him.

But that was back when he'd deserved her consolation. Monsters didn't deserve sisters like her. Besides, for all he knew, Gatomon was dead, finally leaving him completely isolated and alone. Just the way he'd planned it.

Glancing briefly at the two Digimon before him, Wizardmon continued his slow trek back to his room. He couldn't waste his time worrying over another's problems. After all, he had a war to prepare for.

—

"I don't know about you, Taki, but I am pumped up!" Kira said, determination lighting her eyes. "Finally we get to kick that bitch's ass, not to mention her little crew of flunkies!" (Heh heh…flunkies…)

"Yeah, we definitely have this victory in the bag!" Takuya agreed, feeling extremely confident. "According to Masumon, Ilsemon's not equiped for physical fights, so if we can just get her alone, she'll be toast!"

Tommy smiled at Takuya and Kira, not as apprehensive about the upcoming battle as he would've been a few years ago. That proved that he'd changed, right?

He knew he shouldn't have taken what Kouichi had said yesterday so seriously. He felt bad even considering that his friend really thought any of that about him. Kouichi had been corrupted. That hadn't been him, not really. But still…he'd raised a valid point.

_"Tommy; the baby of the group; the one that everyone always feels the need to protect. And you let us protect you, because deep down, you know that you haven't grown one bit. You're still the same scared little kid you were two years ago, and you won't change, no, you CAN'T change."_

He didn't want it to be true, but Tommy couldn't deny the fact that everyone DID still baby him. They still saw him as the kid he'd been two years ago. But he wasn't the same little kid who cried all the time and got bullied constantly for it. He'd grown out of that a long time ago…right?

"Ready to kick some ass, Tommy?" Tommy blinked, startled out of his mental reverie by Kira's excited question.

He glanced at Takuya, expecting his surrogate brother to scold Kira for cussing in front of him. Again.

But Takuya just smiled and said, "Of course he is! Tommy's always ready for some ass-kicking, right buddy?"

Tommy's eyes widened slightly in surprise. Then he nodded, letting his friends' confidence fill him as well. "I sure am!"

"Glad to hear it," Kira said, smirking. "Now, let us gather the troops and head out!"

Tommy followed his two friends down the hall, smiling to himself. Of course he wasn't the same person he'd been back then. He HAD grown, and the others DID notice it. After all, he couldn't be the baby forever.

…Right?

—

"This is it," Kouji muttered, convinced that his assumption was correct. "I know it is. This'll be the battle where Takuya…" He couldn't bring himself to finish his sentence, mostly because he just couldn't picture Takuya being…dead.

"We'll watch out for him," Kouichi soothed calmly, though the prophecy Kouji had recounted to him last night had disturbed him just as much as his brother. Takuya…dead. That was such a foreign concept.

"The worst part is that we can't just write this off as phony bullshit," Kouji said, fist clenching involuntarily as he continued to pace. "We have to be smart about this, or it'll be too late. If I'd been smart enough to remember what Palmon had said, maybe I could've prevented what happened to you."

Kouichi shook his head slowly. "It couldn't have been prevented. I wanted it, after all…"

"Kouichi, don't," Kouji interrupted quickly, stopping in front of his twin and grabbing him by the shoulders. "You made a mistake. It's fine. We forgive you. The end."

Kouichi lowered his gaze. "Sorry. I guess the wound's still a little fresh, if you know what I mean."

"I know," Kouji said, more gently this time. Then, in a more urgent tone, he continued, "Anyway, whatever happens, we have to look out for Takuya. It'd only take a second of us not paying attention for him to…you know."

"So why aren't we telling him about this again?" Kouichi asked, still convinced that they should let Takuya in on this vital piece of information, especially since it concerned him.

"It wouldn't make any difference if we told him. He'd still be as reckless and pin-headed as he always is," Kouji replied, rolling his eyes. "Besides, it would distract the others and they might get hurt, and that definitely wouldn't solve anything."

Kouichi pictured what Zoe's reaction would be if they told the others about Takuya's possibly doomed future. He sighed, knowing that she would completely freak out. "Good point."

"So we'll just watch out for him, and if he tries anything really stupid, we intervene," Kouji said, cementing the plan.

Kouichi nodded, then smiled slowly as he glanced past Kouji's shoulder. "I think someone's here to see you."

"Hi guys." Kouji stiffened slightly, knowing exactly who was behind him. But, since it would have been rude to ignore her, he turned around to greet Masumon.

"Hey there," he muttered, trying to sound as aloof as possible. Why did it have to be so hard to pull off aloof around her? Oh right, because he'd suppressed that urge around her for years.

"Well, I think I'll go see what the others are up to," Kouichi said quickly, trying to hide his mischievous grin as he left the two. Alone.

_Thanks a whole freakin' lot, Kouichi,_ Kouji thought, annoyed that the rest of the gang seemed to think he and Masumon could still have…moments. That couldn't happen ever again, and it was a waste of time to try.

Of course, Masumon noticed right away that Kouji seemed ticked off about something. "What's wrong? Are you feeling a little edgy about fighting my sister?"

_I'm feeling edgy because I barely maintain self control around you, Seiko._ Kouji could almost hear what her reply would be. _Aw, you don't need to feel edgy! Besides, it's good to loosen up every once in a while! And…you don't need to maintain self control around me._

Masumon took Kouji's silence as confirmation of her assumption and smiled gently. "Try not to get so worked up. I know my sister, and she is not the fighting type. She'll be an easy target once her guards are taken out, though I'm still not sure that I want her to be killed…"

Kouji sighed. THAT was definitely something Seiko would say. No matter how evil someone was, Seiko could always see good in them. Like she'd done with him. "So you're saying that the sister who tortured you mercilessly without any remorse whatsoever deserves a second chance? Sorry, but I'm not gonna forgive her that easily."

"I know that it has to be done," Masumon muttered, eyes lowered sadly. "But…make it quick, okay? Don't let her suffer."

_I'm not sure I can keep that promise, but…_ "Okay," Kouji agreed, knowing he'd keep his word despite his absolute hatred of Ilsemon. He wouldn't let her suffer, because her suffering corresponded to Masumon's…Seiko's suffering. And he wouldn't let her suffer again.

Masumon smiled brightly, forcing Kouji to suppress a deep blush. "Thank you, Kouji!"

Kouji shoved his hands into his pockets, trying not to show how much her thanks affected him. Even without her memories, she knew him too well. If he let his guard down even once, she'd be able to tell why he was always so tense around her. Because he still…loved her.

"Hey, try to be careful, okay?" Masumon added gently, smile fading slightly. "I couldn't stand it if something happened to you…or to your friends."

"Uh-huh," Kouji muttered listlessly, more focused on the way she'd spoken than on what she'd said. There'd been a pretty distinct pause between "you" and "or to your friends," almost as if she'd hastily added the last part. If he didn't know any better, he'd think that some part of Seiko's feelings for him was still buried somewhere in her…

But he did know better. Seiko was dead, and that wouldn't change. She'd given up her life not once, but twice for him, and it was selfish to wish she could go back to the way she'd been.

Suddenly, Kouji felt a hand grab his arm and start tugging him forward, snapping him out of his thoughts. He couldn't hide a slight blush when he saw that it was Masumon who was pulling him down the tunnel. (KPBS: 3)

Masumon glanced back and smiled at him, then said, "I think your friends are looking for you. It's almost time to go, after all. I can lead you to them, if you want."

Kouji felt a surge of panic sweep through him when Masumon's hand began to loosen its grip on him. "No! No, it's fine. Lead on." (KPBS: 4) (Yeah, both blushing and sudden surges of emotion register on the Koujipwned meter!)

For a moment, Masumon seemed puzzled. Then the smile returned to her face and she said, "Okay, I will!"

When she wasn't looking anymore, Kouji breathed a sigh of relief. That had been too close. He'd been caught off guard. But he wouldn't be again. Never again.

In the back of his mind, Kouji heard Ellie sigh sympathetically. _~Oh, Kouji…~_

—

"No…" Impmon couldn't believe it. This couldn't be her. It wasn't. He knew her, and this wasn't her.

She glared at him with those dark, crazed eyes, chilling Impmon to the bone. "Little Impy…you and I, we go way back, don't we?"

Suddenly, she leaned forward, kissing him lightly on the cheek. Impmon barely noticed. She'd gone missing, hadn't she? That's what Wizardmon had said, one of the few times Impmon had managed to get his former friend to talk to him. He'd been devastated by that. If she was "missing," there had been a good chance that she was dead. And she'd been one of the only friends…more than that, that he'd had left. But now here she stood, right in front of him, back from the dead. He'd just bumped into her randomly.

"Wondering where I've been?" she asked, smiling darkly at him. Flinching, she explained, "I was soul-searching. My little kitty soul needed some cleansing. I needed a brand new perspective."

Impmon stepped forward, eyes pleading. "Gatomon…what'd she do ta you?"

Gatomon stared at Impmon for a long moment. Impmon thought he saw a flash of the old, kind Gatomon cross her expression for one short second. Then the crazy gleam returned to her eyes and she lashed out with her paw, pinning Impmon against the wall.

"Ga…" Impmon struggled to say her name, to bring her back, but she had him pinned by the neck, cutting off his air supply.

Gatomon grinned crookedly. "It's too late…it's all too late. I have to make it stop. I have to kill you, kill them, kill everyone. No more…no more…"

Impmon landed with a thump on the ground, gasping for air. Gatomon was already walking away, glowing with data as she went. A moment later, a new Digimon stood in her place. She'd Digivolved. No one would recognize her. She'd be killed by the very kids she'd promised to protect. That was Ilsemon's punishment for her. A death sentence.

At that point, Impmon passed out.

—

"So Takuya will be here soon?" the boy asked quietly, eyes filled with hope.

Ilsemon smirked. "Of course. I'll escort him here myself."

The kid smiled slowly. That was all the resolve he needed. Soon, Takuya would be here. Then he would prove to him, to everyone, that he was just as special as Tommy. He'd show them that he could turn into a big-shot Digimon, too. Then they'd all see.

Suddenly, the boy remembered something important. "You won't hurt him, right? Or his friends?"

Ilsemon chuckled. "Of course not, child. I'll do as you say. After all," here she bowed her head slightly, hiding her dark smirk from the boy, "I wouldn't want to upset my catalyst..."

—

_madjack89:_ Guess who's here, everyone!

_Lina:_ Hey there, guys!

_Gourry:_ Hi!

_Amelia:_ Hello, fanfiction readers!

_Zelgadis:_ Yeah, hi.

_Lina:_ Ignore Zel. He's kind of like the Kouji of our group.

_Zelgadis and Kouji: *glare*_

_madjack89:_ Wow, Lina, Gourry, Amelia, and Zelly! I may fall subject to fangirl spasms momentarily.

_Amelia:_ Though I'm the one that had to force Miss Lina and Mister Zelgadis to come in the first place.

_Lina: *shrugs*_ I came, didn't I?

_JP:_ Wait, if you're like Kouji, how'd Amelia convince YOU to come, Zelgadis?

_Zelgadis: *blushes slightly*_

_JP:_ Oh…oh! Wow…isn't she kinda young for you?

_Zelgadis: *still embarrassed*_ Shut up!

_madjack89:_ Aw, how cute! _*hugs Zelly*_

_Zelgadis: *stiffens*_

_Kira: *pokes Zelly*_ Wow, your skin really IS hard!

_Lina:_ He's kinda like a cross between a rock, a porcupine, and a fangirl magnet.

_Zelgadis:_ I am not!

_Dai:_ Heh…hi Amelia.

_Amelia:_ Hello there! What's your name?

_Dai:_ I'm D-Dai. _*blushes*_

_Shino:_ What's up with Dai?

_Hotaru:_ Amelia was Dai's first anime crush.

_Shino: *sigh*_ That figures.

_Takuya:_ Wow Kouji, I can't believe you actually called up the Slayers gang, who you can barely stand and which you knew would lead to more Light Saber jokes…

_Gourry:_ Um, I don't know what a Light Saber is, but you can see my Sword of Light. Light come forth! _*weilds HIS Light Saber*_

_madjack89 and Kira:_ Yay!

_Takuya:_ …just to make Madjack happy.

_JP:_ You actually do like her, don't you?

_Kouji: *embarrassed*_ Shut up.

_madjack89:_ Wow, what a great b-day present! Thank you, Kouji and Neji!

_Kouji: *still embarrassed, nods*_

_Neji:_ No problem.

_madjack89:_ Well, I guess it's time to end the chapter so we can go party with the Slayers gang!

_Lina:_ Let's go blow up a bandit camp!

_Kira:_ I like the way you think, girl! Though might I suggest blowing up a couple pesky Digimon first.

_Lina:_ Sure!

_Amelia:_ Evil Digimon shall perish before us! Right, Dai?

_Dai: *blushes profusely, nods*_

_Gourry:_ Well, I guess it's okay if they're evil and pesky.

_Zelgadis: *sigh*_ How do I put up with this?

_Kouichi:_ It's okay, Zelgadis.

_madjack89:_ Tee hee, Crispin Freeman!

_Zelgadis and Kouichi: *sigh*_

_madjack89:_ Alright guys, see ya in chapter 37, when the battle shall commence!


	37. Ch 37: Attack of the Filler Villains

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 37: Attack of the Filler Villains **

_Kira:_ Well, despite being filler, I thought that episode 19 had its high points. I got to laugh my ass off at pretty boy's stupidity!

_Kouji:_ _*sigh*_ I hate filler.

_Kouichi:_ Me too. I never got any lines in filler episodes. That is, when I was actually IN the series. God, I need a better agent…

_Shino:_ Anime characters have agents?

_madjack89:_ Hi guys! I've been rewatching all the seasons of Digimon lately since I haven't watched Adventure, Adventure 02, or Tamers straight through in about four years. This prompted the gang, plus Kira, Dai, Hotaru, Shino, and any other F2R character who felt like it, to watch Digimon Frontier over again.

_Dai:_ Is your mind really coated with chocolate, JP? That sounds yummy!

_JP:_ Damn you, dubbers!

_madjack89:_ This is what happens when they watch stuff with each other. They start debating about it. It's kind of funny, though, so I don't feel the need to break it up! Now let's listen in to the debate, shall we?

_Shino: *twitches*_ They're together…in every other scene…damn…I never had a chance, did I?

_Takuya:_ I think JP had a better shot at Zoe than you, buddy.

_Shino:_ Aw…

_JP:_ Hey, Junzumi is completely canon!

_Zoe:_ According to the fans, so is Koukou.

_Kouji and Kouichi: *flinch*_ Ew…

_Kira:_ Seriously, that's worse than Takouji, and I'm already mad about that. _*glares at Kouji*_

_Kouji:_ How is Takouji any more my fault than it is Takuya's?

_Kira:_ Because you're the gayer one! No one would think Taki was gay if it weren't for you!

_Kouji: *glares*_

_JP:_ She kind of has a point.

_Dai:_ I liked episode 40! The way you shunned those wanna-be Digidestined was funny!

_Takuya:_ Wanna-be Digidestined? What are you talking about?

_Zoe:_ He means Katsuharu and his gang.

_Takuya:_ Who?

_Tommy:_ The guys that pushed me on the Trailmon in the first episode.

_Takuya:_ …Who?

_Tommy: *sigh*_ Forget it. It's not like Madjack will ever mention them in the story.

_madjack89:_ Nope!

_Hotaru:_ You know, despite the filler episodes, you guys got off pretty easy in Frontier. I mean, at least your episodes weren't 45% flashback.

_Pein, Sasori, Neji:_ HEY!

_Xemnas:_ Burn.

_Takuya:_ Wow, nice one, Taru! I didn't think you had it in you!

_Hotaru: *shrugs*_

_madjack89:_ Alright, the debate's over! Time to answer reviews then start the chapter!

_*break*_

_GoldenDragon326: _Yu-gi-oh Abridged is absolutely hilarious, even if you're not really into Yu-gi-oh. LittleKuriboh is a comic genius! KPBS is Koujipwned by Seiko! Thanks for reviewing! (Such a big storm it will be…mua ha ha…)

_silver fire wolf:_ Let's just say that Ilsemon was a very bad girl and did very bad things to Gatomon-neko, Kokoro. Thank you for reviewing!

_garnettfox:_ They've invented a brand new, much more dangerous way to glomp! (lol) Yeah, I figured that you guys were all smart enough to suss it out. I just wanted to remind everyone that he got kidnapped in chapter one and that soon he'd be coming back! Anyway, thanks for reviewing! (Oh the wonderful thing about Tiggers is Tiggers are wonderful things! Their tops are made out of rubber, their bottoms are made out of springs! :D)

_13wolfsbane:_ Oh, it was your birthday, too? Happy birthday, then! 1) Of course he is! He just doesn't realize it yet. He's slow. (_Duskmon:_ _*glares*_) But still the best Digimon villain ever! 2) Gives ya funny mental pictures, huh? And that would make a good wallpaper! 3) Well, duh! (BTW, sorry Yin!) 4) Wow, you're quite the psychic! Hm, will Shinya be the one to kill Takuya? We'll see…anyway, thanks for reviewing! BYES!

_Aldamonburst:_ Aw, poor Pete…wait, that's a good thing! (lol) How dare you threaten little Kaito, Donald! I mean, at least HE doesn't have one of the most annoying voices in the world! Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_Zanzibar1:_ Thank you very much!

_fg1fg:_ Because I think that all the best villains have a REASON for being evil and doing the things they do! Tee hee, Prince of Darkness! Dai and Amelia are alike in a way. They both have very…interesting personalities! (lol) Plus, Dai thinks Amelia's pretty hot. Thanks for reviewing!

_Shadowfox94:_ Yeah, poor 'bad' guys! The girl might have been Seiko…we'll find out later on in the story. ;) (_Kouichi:_ No problem! ^_^) (_Kouji: *glares*_) (_Takuya:_ …I'm screwed, huh?) Might as well say yeah, it was a certain someone's brother at the end. But what does Ilsemon have in store for him? You'll just have to keep reading to find out! Thanks for reviewing!

*_break*_

_madjack89:_ Alright, time for the battle to commence! Mua ha ha!

_Tommy:_ …Now I'm kinda scared.

_Takuya:_ We're all scared of her, buddy. We all are.

—

BOOM!

"Well, looks like this is it," Witchmon said, watching the others regain their balance after yet another explosion rocked the forest. She hadn't physically felt the shock wave since she was floated several inches off the ground with her broom.

"Yeah, I think three explosions is the universal sign for 'let's start this battle already,'" Dragramon added, glancing at Gotsumon. "So, time to sound the call?"

"Almost," he replied, turning around to face Masumon. He knew that she wanted to go with them, to help with this battle in any way she could, but they just couldn't risk losing her again. So she was staying behind to help "guard the fort" with Swanmon until they returned. If they returned. "Be careful, alright? No matter what you may hear, I don't want you coming after us. If you do, there's a good chance you'll be killed."

Masumon nodded reluctantly. "I just wish I could be more useful than this," she mumbled, hanging her head shamefully. "Even human children can do more than I can…"

"Aw, don't sell yourself short," Witchmon said, smiling at her mentor/friend. "You saved Chief, right?"

"And you've saved me twice now," Dragramon added.

"In a way, you're more important than the rest of us who can fight," Gotsumon said, placing a hand gently on Masumon's shoulder. "You and Kouji are the only ones who really stand a chance against Nina, who we'll also have to deal with eventually. So just take care of yourself for now, and we'll take care of Ilsemon. Okay?"

Masumon smiled slightly, reassured by her friends. "Okay. Good luck, and please be careful."

"We'll be fine," Witchmon said, waving off Masumon's concern. "We've got the easy job of taking out Ilsemon's throw-away lackeys. The kids have to handle the big boss battle."

"Oh, I bet we could still have some fun," Dragramon muttered, flexing her claws. "First one to fifty kills gets major bragging rights for the next ten years."

"Bring it on, Dragon Tales reject," Witchmon retorted, joking good-naturedly. (Sorry garnettfox!)

Both Gotsumon and Masumon sighed. "Try to take this seriously, guys," Gotsumon muttered, turning back toward the large group of Digimon standing before him, most having already Digivolved to their Champion level. "Okay, let's do this.

"Attack!"

—

BOOM!

"How many more things can they possibly blow up out there?" Ranamon muttered sarcastically, peeking around the cover of the trees surrounding the gang. "Seriously, why does everything in anime have to blow up?"

Aldamon shrugged. "Probably because it looks cooler."

"So, uh, when do we get to go out and fight exactly?" Arbormon commented. "Madjack said that the battle was going to start this chapter, and right now she's completely skimming over the action."

"All part of the plan," Beetlemon replied. "Once we get a clear opening into the RMS, we charge in, take out as many guards as we need to, and take Ilsemon down. Simple, yet effective."

"So that means we're just gonna be standing here all chapter until we get our opening?" Ranamon whined, highly disappointed. "How lame!"

"Wait, if that's the case, why does the title say 'Attack of the Filler Villains'?" Zephyrmon asked slowly.

After a brief pause, Beowulfmon muttered, "I have a very bad feeling about this."

"Heartbreak Attack!"

Mercurymon barely had time to shove Gigasmon out of the way (which was no easy task in itself) before a dark, heart-shaped energy shot through the tree he'd been standing in front of, causing it to wilt.

"Holy shit, what was that?" Ranamon asked, turning her head frantically left and right.

"Oh no," Aldamon muttered, realizing right away what Digimon had made that attack. "Is he really here?"

"I thought we left him back in episode 7," Beowulfmon grumbled irritably.

"Didn't I purify him with my childish happiness and good cheer and stuff?" Kumamon said, sighing.

"I take it you guys know what we're dealing with," Beetlemon realized, watching warily as a big, dark, misshapen teddy bear stepped out of the cover of the deeper recesses of the forest, a nasty grin on his face. "Uh, I think half of us missed this episode. Clue us in to what this thing is, kay guys?"

Before Aldamon could explain what WaruMonzaemon could do, another dark heart was unleashed by the "funky" teddy bear. (Tee hee!)

"Shut the hell up, Madjack!" Beowulfmon shouted, dodging the heart by a hair's breadth.

"You want some advice, guys? Run!" Aldamon shouted, dashing out from the safety of the forest so that he wouldn't have to dodge any trees. The others followed hastily, pursued by WaruMonzaemon.

"Heartbreak Attack!" the Digimon shouted, launching dark hearts all over the place.

"Whatever you do, don't get hit by the dark emo hearts of doom!" Aldamon yelled, dodging another heart.

"I just got through god knows how many chapters of depression in this story, and you send Emo Bear after us, Madjack?" Beowulfmon said incredulously. (Yup!)

"Do you think that I'd be able to bounce the attacks back at him with one of my mirrors?" Mercurymon inquired.

"Maybe," Beowulfmon replied, dodging two hearts coming at him from either side. "Do you want to test it out?"

"Kouichi!" Zephyrmon's sudden cry caused the others to turn and see what had happened. Raihimon, who had been running along with the others a moment ago, now stood rigidly in place, eyes wide. "He was hit!" Zephyrmon said despairingly. "What's going to happen to him?"

"Crap," Aldamon muttered. "Chief's the last person who should get hit by that attack."

WaruMonzaemon chuckled darkly, staring hungrily at Raihimon. "I have you now."

"No you don't!" Zephyrmon shouted, eyes suddenly filling with a fiery, protective rage. Then she shot herself straight at WaruMonzaemon, shoving him back several feet until he skidded to a halt on the ground. Before he could get his bearings back, Zephyrmon continued her assault. "Hurricane Gale!"

"It's okay, Kouichi," Beowulfmon assured, hands placed on his brother's shoulders. "You'll be fine in a second."

"Damn, Zee just tore that teddy bear's arms off," Ranamon muttered, staring wide-eyed at the Digital bloodbath going on a few feet away.

"Um, what exactly is supposed to happen?" Raihimon asked, looking slightly confused. "I don't feel any different."

"What?" Aldamon and Beowulfmon exclaimed at the same time.

"Wow, now she's ripping out his stuffing," Arbormon commented, watching Zephyrmon go nuts on WaruMonzaemon. "Maybe I'm better off not dating her…"

"Don't you feel like crying or something?" Kumamon asked Raihimon curiously. "That's what Takuya and Kouji did."

"We don't need to go into detail about that!" Aldamon and Beowulfmon shouted, embarrassed.

"Uh, no, not really," Raihimon replied, raising an eyebrow. "I feel perfectly normal."

Finding a bit of humor in Raihimon's immunity to WaruMonzaemon, Aldamon quickly turned, trying to suppress his chuckles. Beowulfmon just sighed. "This actually does make some sense, I have to admit."

Raihimon continued to stare at the two, confused. "Oh wait, I get it!" Gigasmon exclaimed happily. "Kouichi's immune to emo hearts because he's already emo enough! Ha, that is kind of funny!"

"Die, bear, die!" Zephyrmon shouted, scanning what was left of WaruMonzaemon. "You're next, Nina!"

—

_~A-choo!~_

"Did you just sneeze?" Duskmon asked Nina incredulously, standing somewhere behind the RMS, away from the ensuing battle. "How is that even possible? You're a non-physical entity. Why would a non-physical entity need to sneeze?"

_~Someone's apparently talking about me,~_ Nina said, ignoring Duskmon's logic. _~I wonder if it's kitty! Yay!~_

Duskmon sighed heavily. "Why do I even bother?"

—

"Well great, the stupid bear brought us out into the open," Beowulfmon muttered irritably. "So much for surprise."

"It looks like we're too far away from the battle for anyone to recognize us," Arbormon stated, noticing that the warring Digimon were so far away that they looked like a mass of black dots in the distance. "Maybe our guys managed to push them farther away from the RMS so that we could get our clear shot inside."

"That bear knew where to find us, though," Mercurymon muttered thoughtfully. "I'll bet Ilsemon thought a few steps ahead of us and figured that we'd let the others handle her weaker forces while we snuck inside the RMS to take her out. She probably tried to slow us down with that evil bear."

"It worked," Beetlemon said, rolling his eyes.

"Well then, what're we waiting for?" Ranamon exclaimed, eyes gleaming. "Let's go kick her ass!"

Aldamon smiled. "Kira's right. We're not gonna do any good by standing here. Let's go!"

"You won't be going anywhere! Bone Blaster!"

"Shit!" Ranamon cursed, jumping out of the way of a powerful blast of light energy before it collided with her. Staring at the hole in the ground, she exclaimed, "What the hell did that? I thought we were dealing with filler villains!"

"You remember how me and Kouji became exponentially more powerful than a vast percentage of Digimon in the last 15-some episodes of Frontier?" Aldamon asked, chuckling nervously. "Well…these guys are from that part of the series."

Everyone looked up in shock and (mostly) annoyance at the three skeleton-like Digimon floating above them, cackling maniacally. "Oh…crapmon," Ranamon muttered.

"Attack all at once! Maybe we can take care of them quickly and move on to more important stuff!" Beetlemon shouted, already gathering lightening in his fist. "Thunder Fist!"

"Teamwork logic FTW!" Aldamon winked as he shot his own attack at the three Digimon, followed quickly by the others. But as powerful as their combined blast was, the skeletal Digimon still held strong, only slightly scathed.

"Ha, teamwork won't save you now!" SkullSatamon #1 cackled, brandishing his staff.

"That's right! No one defeats the three SkullSatamon brothers!" SkullSatamon #2 added.

"But what about when we beat you in episode 43?" Beowulfmon countered smugly.

"Shut up!" SkullSatamon #3 exclaimed, firing another blast from the end of his staff. His two brothers shot blasts from their staffs as well, creating an even more powerful attack.

The gang quickly, but barely, dodged the attack, which left another large crater in the earth. "Kouji, new rule; you're not allowed to taunt the villains when WE DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THEM!" Aldamon shouted angrily.

"What, so you guys get all the witty banter? That seems unfair," Beowulfmon replied sarcastically.

"Kouji, you can be an asshole later!" Beetlemon interrupted the ensuing argument before it got out of hand and this insane mish-mosh of a chapter got any longer. "Right now we have to beat these damn skeletons!"

"Hey guys, guess what?" Gigasmon suddenly stated, giggling at the three SkullSatamon standing before the gang. "I see dead people! Get it?"

Mercurymon sighed. "Dai, just…go over there. We'll handle this."

"Okie-doke!" Gigasmon replied cheerfully, moving off to the side so that the others, who were actually (kind of) taking this seriously, could take care of the SkullSatamon.

"You will not be handling us, the three SkullSatamon brothers!" SkullSatamon #2 gloated.

"We are wickedness personified!" SkullSatamon #3 stated haughtily.

"Indeed, we are a threesome of terror!" SkullSatamon #1 said, getting some curious stares from his brothers and the gang. "Wait, let me try that again…"

"Hey, who the hell do you think we are?" Ranamon shouted angrily. (Gurren Lagann reference, I think? I've never seen this show, so I don't know for sure, but I think this is something one of the characters from that show says a lot, right? Sure.)

"Actually, we don't know who you are," SkullSatamon #2 said, cocking his head in confusion. "You weren't around last time."

"Well, allow me to introduce myself," Ranamon muttered, smirking slightly. Then she pointed toward the sky, posing dramatically, and said, "I am Kira!"

"Yay, obligatory Death Note reference!" Gigasmon cheered, clapping excitedly for Kira. "Good job!"

"Man, I've been wanting to say that for years!" Ranamon exclaimed happily. "Thanks for giving me a reason to, creepy skeleton freaks!"

"Can we just finish these guys off already?" Arbormon complained. "This chapter is getting ridiculous."

"Alright, I'll get rid of 'em," Aldamon replied, standing before the three Digimon. "Deus Ex Machina Super Fire Explosion!"

With this convoluted exclamation, Aldamon launched a giant fireball at the skeleton Digimon, engulfing them in flames and unraveling their data, which Aldamon quickly Digitized. "Okay, let's keep goin'," he said, turning to the others.

"Yeah, that definitely broke the ridiculous trend," Arbormon muttered, sighing as he followed the rest of the gang toward the RMS.

—

"Gatomon!" Impmon shouted, startling himself awake from the uneasy nightmare he'd just had. It took him a few moments to realize that it actually hadn't been a dream, and that Gatomon really was…

"No," he growled, clenching his fists. "If I can't save anyone else, I'll be damned if I don't save ya, Gatomon!"

Recalling the form she'd taken as she'd stalked away from him, Impmon raced through the RMS, glancing down every corridor he passed. "C'mon, Gatomon," he muttered, beginning to get frustrated. "Where are ya?"

Suddenly, a large explosion sent a shock wave through the RMS, sending Impmon crashing to the floor. Heart sinking slowly, he realized what this must mean. "The battle…it started already!"

—

"Hey, you ever get the feeling that something really bad is about to happen?" Beetlemon said, running toward the RMS with his friends. "Like, y'know, some character who hasn't been in the story in, like, forever is just gonna randomly show up and try to kick our asses?"

"Hasn't that been happening all chapter?" Beowulfmon retorted, rolling his eyes.

"Well, yeah," Beetlemon muttered, slightly abashed. "But I've got this weird feeling that it's gonna be someone we actually…well, not liked, per say, but didn't hate overall."

"We didn't hate WaruMonzaemon…well, not Monzaemon, at least," Aldamon retorted, glancing at Zephyrmon. "Zee's the one who kicked the utter crap out of him in an overly-protective rage."

Zephyrmon glared at Aldamon as Beetlemon sighed. "You know what? Forget it."

"Evil Wing."

Before the gang knew what was going on, they were surrounded by thousands of dark bat-like creatures, flying around them in a dizzying cloud.

"Oh my god," Beowulfmon muttered to himself. "I swear, if this Myotismon, I am gonna be pissed."

"Myotismon?" Just as suddenly as the bats had appeared, they vanished, revealing the real source of the attack. It was a female Digimon who was scantily clad (of course) in a dark bathing suit-like outfit, complete with chains hanging from her belt and a long, black, tattered cloak billowing out behind her. Her dark boots and bandana, which covered half her face, both sported a pair of red, glowing eyes, making her look that much creepier. And, naturally, her left hand was more of a lethal-looking claw than a traditional hand.

She regarded the Legendary Warriors coolly, then said, "Still making relentless references, I see. Always the kidders. But I suppose that's why you were so fun to be around."

Suddenly, the Digimon lashed out with her clawed hand, stopping inches away from Aldamon's surprised face. "Play time's over now, children. Time to face the thing you've all been pointlessly running from; a painful, brutal death."

—

"Out of my way!" Wizardmon shouted angrily, beating a path through the throng of fighting Digimon with his staff. He'd caught a glimpse of Witchmon a moment ago, and he REALLY wasn't in the mood for her right now. In fact, he'd had just about enough of this battle. It was too easy. He was more skilled than nearly all the Digimon there.

It would be much more interesting wherever those Legendary Warrior kids were. That was where the real battle would take place, and either Ilsemon would win and he'd live out the rest of his miserable existence in her servitude, or Shino and his friends would win and they'd kill him along with the others that were above giving the kids a sob story. It didn't particularly matter to him which of these two options it was. He just wanted to see for himself what went down.

Finally breaking through the mass of screaming, flailing Digital bodies, Wizardmon began to run toward the RMS, knowing that Ilsemon would lure the children there with those random "blasts from their pasts," as she would call the Digimon she'd tracked down and "converted." It hadn't taken much on the SkullSatamons' parts, though. She'd just had to remind them who they really were, or had been. Wizardmon found it weird and invasive that Ilsemon could access memories from a Digimon's past life with her powers. Some things were best left forgotten, in his opinion.

Just as he made it to the glitch in the RMS's wall, though, Impmon came racing out of the tower, running straight into Wizardmon and knocking them both to the ground. Wizardmon scowled. He didn't have time for Impmon's stupid attempts at helping him.

Impmon shook his head, then glanced down and realized who he'd run into. "Sorry, Wizardmon!" he apologized, jumping up quickly. "I, uh, didn't see ya standin' there."

Wizardmon rolled his eyes. "Impmon, I have even less time for you now than I usually do. I'm looking for those Legendary brats so I can see the fight between them and Ilsemon, so if you'll move the hell out of the way…"

"Gatomon's back." That actually managed to halt Wizardmon. Briefly.

"So, she's not dead," he muttered, smirking to himself. "Isn't that a weird twist. Did you actually manage to find her and keep Ilsemon from punishing her?"

Wizardmon didn't like the way tears were beading up at the corners of Impmon's eyes when he replied, "She's back, but it ain't her. She's not Gatomon anymore. Ilsemon…did somethin' to her. Now she's gonna try ta kill those kids, and we both know dat won't end well."

Holding back the pained expression that was threatening to break out across his face, Wizardmon nodded. "I see. But then again, what makes you think those kids would kill her, even if she tried to kill them? They took her in, and they don't abandon members of their 'gang' easily."

"She can Digivolve now," Impmon said, gloved hands trembling. "She'll attack 'em as LadyDevimon and, unless those kids have an encyclopedic knowledge o' Digimon and their evolutions, they ain't gonna put two and two together."

This time, Wizardmon couldn't hold back a slight flinch. "LadyDevimon?" he muttered quietly. That wasn't right. That was an evolution for impure, evil Digimon, not his sister. Gatomon was good, and kind, and…he'd done this to her. He'd brought nearly everyone around him down with him when he'd decided to immerse himself in Ilsemon's dark shadow. Gatomon, Impmon, Se…

Quickly clearing his head, he grabbed Impmon's arm roughly, pulling his former friend toward him. "Where is she now?" he asked him slowly, almost menacingly. He felt bad, as he always did, staring into his ex-friend's scared, pleading eyes. Impmon only wanted to save him. He'd joined Ilsemon to gain the power to save him. But he couldn't be saved. Not now.

"I don't know," Impmon replied, a tear finally escaping down his cheek. "She ran off after knockin' me out. I don't know where she went."

Wizardmon shoved Impmon away, growling in frustration. He had to find her before those stupid kids found her and killed her, not knowing who she was. Or who she'd been. However, he'd take Impmon with him. He'd be able to spot Gatomon easier with two sets of eyes looking. Huh, maybe Duskmon was on to something with that armor…

Turning to Impmon with a more determined expression than he'd worn in a long time on his face, Wizardmon said, "Let's go."

—

"Hey, bitch from hell! Back off of Taki before I'm forced to kick your ass!" Ranamon shouted, glaring at LadyDevimon.

"Forced?" Beetlemon said sarcastically.

For a moment, it seemed as if LadyDevimon had heeded Ranamon's "request" and lowered her arm. But just as suddenly she raised it again, this time intending to strike. Aldamon was prepared to defend himself against the attack, but Beowulfmon quickly intervened, placing his sword between LadyDevimon and Aldamon.

"I don't suggest you try that again," Beowulfmon growled, glaring angrily at LadyDevimon.

Meanwhile, Aldamon glared angrily at Beowulfmon. "Hey, I could've handled that!" he protested, annoyed by Kouji's sudden need to be over-protective for no reason.

Before any more could be said, LadyDevimon swatted Beowulfmon's sword out of her way and, instead of going for Aldamon again, aimed for Beowulfmon. Quickly, Beowulfmon dodged to the right, narrowly avoiding LadyDevimon's talon-like fingers.

Without breaking stride, LadyDevimon whooshed past Beowulfmon and headed toward the next closest target, Kumamon.

Zephyrmon and Beetlemon quickly came to Kumamon's aid and, together, they fired off their combo attack. (You know the one.)

"Thunder Fist!"

"Hurricane Gale!"

"Blizzard Blaster!"

The mini-tornado of snow and thunder (I don't know how these elements combine to make a decent attack, either…) hit a startled LadyDevimon, sending her back several feet. The gang stared warily at her unmoving form, wondering if that attack had really beaten her.

LadyDevimon, however, hopped to her feet and took to the air a moment later, deciding to dive bomb the three who had attacked her.

Zephyrmon and Kumamon dodged, while Beetlemon grabbed LadyDevimon by the shoulders and slammed her to the ground. "Man, why doesn't Beetlemon get more credit?" Beetlemon muttered to himself, flexing his muscle.

Not even Beetlemon's wrestling strategy could stop their opponent's rampage, though. "Die!" LadyDevimon shouted hysterically, nearly impaling Beetlemon with her claws as she leaped back to her feet.

"Hey guys, we'd appreciate some help!" Zephyrmon yelled, dodging nimbly around LadyDevimon's swipes.

"I'll try to restrain her!" Arbormon replied, arms shooting out from his body and wrapping themselves around LadyDevimon before she tried yet again to ram her claws into Kumamon's head.

Instead of staying restrained, LadyDevimon used her claw to cut through both of Arbormon's rope-like arms, freeing herself. "Ah, my arms!" Arbormon cried, staring with horror at his dismembered limbs lying uselessly on the ground in front of him. "Please tell me that those grow back!"

"Why didn't we ever think of doing that to Arbormon before?" Beetlemon muttered thoughtfully.

"Just die already!" LadyDevimon suddenly screamed, racing at Arbormon with her clawed hand outstretched. Without his arms, Arbormon was a bit less balanced and wouldn't easily be able to dodge the attack.

So Ranamon and Mercurymon came at LadyDevimon from either side before she made it near Arbormon, brandishing their fists. With nowhere else to go, LadyDevimon stopped herself mid-stride and jerked backwards, forcing herself out of the way of her adversaries' fists. However, there was one adversary waiting behind her, ready to strike.

"Hello there!" Gigasmon said cheerfully, a big smile on his face. Then he began to spin rapidly, unleashing his attack. "Quagmire Twister!"

LadyDevimon, who still hadn't regained her balance, was sucked into the resulting dust tornado and lifted high off the ground. From outside the wind storm, she heard Aldamon yell, "You and me, Chief! Let her have it!"

"Chief…?" LadyDevimon's train of thought was cut short as two powerful blasts of energy suddenly slammed into her, cutting right through the vortex she was trapped within. It burned, she screamed, and then everything went dark as she fell to the ground in a heap, the wind having ceased to hold her in mid-air.

Meanwhile, the gang was momentarily blinded by the thick cloud of dust created by Gigasmon's attack. Coughing, Aldamon said, "Geez Dai, use a little more restraint next time, okay?"

"Sorry," Gigasmon replied sheepishly. "But at least we beat that weird psycho Digimon before anyone got seriously injured!"

"I lost my arms, Dai," Arbormon stated flatly, deciding it would be best to Slide Evolve to Petaldramon for the time being. "Now I know what it feels like to be Deidara…" (_Sasori:_ Okay, I have to admit it; that was pretty funny.)

"Eh, I'm sure you'll be fine, Shino," Aldamon said nonchalantly, trying to make out the shapes of his friends through the dust. "Anyway, I elect Chief to go scan Lady Gaga-mon before she gets away. Hop to it!"

"How do you come up with this stuff, Takuya?" Raihimon wondered to himself, walking cautiously through the still fairly thick cloud of dust toward the spot where he thought LadyDevimon had fallen. Finally, he spotted a Fractal Code shining faintly through the dirt-infested air. "Well, I'd say something witty, but trying to do that while scanning Digimon usually leads to a bad pun," Raihimon said to himself, holding up his D-Tector. "Fractal Code…"

Suddenly, Raihimon caught a glimpse of the Digimon lying before him and stopped. LadyDevimon had apparently de-Digivolved thanks to his and Aldamon's combined attack. She was now in the form of a small, familiar white cat. Raihimon's eyes widened in horror as he recognized the little Digimon as none other than… "Gatomon…?"

"Hey Chief, you done yet? We gotta move! Ilsemon's ass needs some kicking!"

Raihimon glanced back toward where his friends were standing near the end of the slowly thinning dust cloud, then down at the unmoving Digimon at his feet. "Gatomon…she got to you," he muttered, realizing that this must have been Ilsemon's doing. She'd done something to Gatomon, driven her insane, just so that this would occur. She was screwing around with them and getting rid of Gatomon at the same time. The perfect plan.

"Kouichi, hurry up!"

Staring at the little cat Digimon at his feet, he knew he couldn't do it. He couldn't finish her off, even though she looked like she'd been through a fate worse than death. Gatomon had tried to help him and his friends, and this was what had happened to her. She'd been their friend and gotten tortured relentlessly because of it. "Gatomon…I'm sorry," he said quietly, tearing his gaze away from her as he ran back out of the thinning dust cloud.

"Alright," Raihimon said, eyes lighting up with determination as he rejoined his friends. "Let's go kill Ilsemon."

—

~_Later, after an extreme stair montage…_

"It's the eye of the tiger!" Aldamon continued to sing as he and the rest of the gang neared the top of the RMS, the chamber where Cherubimon had collected all his gathered data several years ago.

"Takuya, shut up!" the others exclaimed in unison, getting sick of their friend's improvised montage music.

"Fine, whatever," Aldamon muttered, finally reaching the top of the stairs. "We're here, anyway."

"So this was Cherubimon's little room of evil, huh?" Ranamon stated, walking boldly toward the center of the large, empty space. "Geez, you'd think Ilsemon could stand to spruce the place up a little more with some knick-knacks or something."

"Where is Ilsemon, anyway?" Petaldramon wondered aloud, following his friends further into the empty space. "Knowing her, she'd want to get a good view of the carnage going on down there."

"Plus it would be a good place for us to face off," Beetlemon muttered, taking another step…which caused his foot to sink slightly as he pushed down on a secret panel in the floor. He quickly hopped back as a small platform rose up from the ground, similar to the one Cherubimon had used to store the data he'd had his followers collect. Actually, this platform had a Fractal Code swirling around on top of it, too.

The gang examined the data for a moment, perplexed. "Okay, since when has Ilsemon been collecting data?" Zephyrmon said. "I thought she wanted to bring Lucemon back, not destroy the Digital World."

"Maybe she needs the data to do that," Mercurymon suggested.

Beowulfmon stared at the data for a long moment, growing thoughtful. "It doesn't look like there's much data here. It's only big enough to be from scanning one Digimon…"

Suddenly, the gang was blasted by a powerful stream of wind, knocking them completely off their feet. In fact, the gust was so strong that it sent them flying through the large opening in the wall adjacent to them, causing them to fall from the tower toward the cold, hard ground.

Kazemon gazed out the window-like opening at their shrinking figures, smiling crookedly. Then Hallucimon transformed back into his normal cat form, the grin still stuck on his face. "Oops, my bad."

—

_madjack89:_ Wow, I got WAY too hyper writing this chapter.

_Kira:_ Hey, we got to have fun and kick ass, so I'm not complaining.

_Shino:_ Yeah, this was definitely one of the more laid back chapters…except for the fact that MY ARMS GOT CUT OFF!

_madjack89:_ Calm down, they'll be there again next time you Spirit Evolve.

_Shino:_ They'd better be.

_Kouji:_ Oh yeah, and thanks for shoving us off a building, Madjack.

_madjack89:_ Oh, you'll be fine!

_Kouji:_ We'd better be.

_madjack89: *sigh*_

_Kira:_ Um, guys, can I ask you a question about episode 50 of Frontier?

_Takuya:_ Sure. What is it?

_Kira:_ Uh, you guys all Spirit Evolved into Susanoomon against Lucemon in the last battle, right?

_Takuya:_ Yeah…

_Kira:_ Well, I couldn't help but notice that you were all…well, naked in there.

_Takuya:_ Uh, I guess…

_Kira:_ You see, Zoe was in there with you guys and…uh…you see what I'm getting at, right?

_Takuya, JP, Kouji, Tommy: *blush with embarrassment*_

_Zoe: *glances suspiciously at them*_ Well…did you?

_Kouji:_ Of course not.

_Tommy:_ No…

_Takuya and JP: *refuse to answer*_

_Kouichi:_ Wait, I was gone for one and five sixths of an episode, and you guys all got naked…?

_Zoe: *blushes*_ No no no, it wasn't like that!

_Kira:_ They kind of had a little spinning naked circle.

_Kouichi:_ 0_0

_Zoe: *blushes more*_ It wasn't a big deal! We weren't paying attention to that at the time…I think. _*glances at Takuya and JP*_

_Takuya and JP: *blush more*_

_Shino:_ Wow…

_Dai:_ Okay, time for this chapter to end! Next time, we'll finally get to face Ilsemon! Yay, the final boss battle commences!

_Hotaru: *sigh*_ For the sake of my sanity, please try to take this seriously, Dai.

_Dai:_ Well, I guess I can try! _*smiles*_

_Hotaru: *sigh*_

_Xemnas:_ So, 200 bucks says they all die.

_Sasori:_ You're on.

_madjack89:_ See ya next time, everyone!


	38. Ch 38: Rage

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 38: Rage**

_madjack89:_ Hello, all. How is everyone on this fine day?

_Everyone:_ …

_Takuya:_ Uh…Madjack? You okay?

_madjack89:_ Yes, Takuya, I'm fine. Are you referring to the fact that I'm not acting as hyper as I usually do?

_Takuya:_ Well…yeah.

_JP:_ It's kinda creepy.

_madjack89:_ Well, despite its creepiness, I've decided to try something different with this particular chapter of F2R. You're all familiar with my style of writing by now, correct?

_Everyone: *nods slowly*_

_madjack89:_ Then you already know that one key element in nearly every story I write lies in breaking the fourth wall.

_Zoe:_ You do like to comment on things that are happening during the story.

_Shino:_ Not to mention we're completely aware that we're fictional, in and out of the commentaries.

_madjack89:_ Indeed. Now, if you'll recall…

_Kouji: *whispers to Kouichi*_ Why is she talking like that?

_Kouichi: *shrugs*_

_madjack89:_ …in the last chapter of F2R, I got very wild with references and, for the most part, ignored the fact that the fourth wall existed. This was done for comedic purposes, since I wanted to write an entirely silly chapter before getting to this point in the story, where things take a fairly dark turn.

_Kouji: _What a surprise.

_madjack89: *ignores*_ So, in order to get all of you, the audience, into the proper mood for this chapter, I've decided not to hop in with any comments or break the fourth wall in any way whatsoever during this chapter, something I'm not used to doing, especially with this story.

_Everyone:_ O.O

_Kouji:_ …Seriously?

_madjack89:_ Seriously.

_Kira:_ You're not gonna make any comments during this chapter at all?

_madjack89:_ That's correct.

_Dai:_ And we'll be too immersed in the plot to make any fourth wall jokes?

_madjack89:_ You can put it that way, yes.

_JP:_ What about references?

_madjack89:_ If any of you choose to make a reference to something in your dialogue, that's fine. But other than that, no references from me. Totally serious narration.

_Takuya:_ …Wow. That's…interesting.

_madjack89:_ Yes, it should be. Now, don't be alarmed, everyone; I'm just trying this out for this particular chapter. I'll be back to my old, crazy self in chapter 39. I just wanted to do something different.

_Kouji:_ Okay, one more question. Why are you acting so weird?

_madjack89:_ You mean why am I acting so calm?

_Kouji:_ For you, calm is weird.

_madjack89:_ Well, to write this chapter without resorting to making references or fourth wall jokes, I need to be in a fairly calm, collected mood, not my usual hyper mood. Like I said, it's only temporary.

_Kouji:_ Um…okay then.

_madjack89:_ Now that I've explained all that, I'll answer your reviews in a dignified fashion.

_Everyone:_ O_O

_Takuya:_ …Dai, I dub you replacement Madjack for this chapter.

_Dai:_ Ai ai, captain! Yay, Madjack's gonna answer some reviews! Woohoo!

_*break*_

_silver fire wolf:_ I am quite sorry. Sometimes I forget how young some readers out there are. Very sorry, Kokoro. Thank you both for the review.

_Musical Darkness:_ Yes, that was quite an interesting conversation. (_Kouichi:_ I'm still confused…) Thank you for the review.

_garnettfox:_ (_Dragramon:_ Just watch your back, Witchy…) (_Kouichi:_ Heh…thank you?) (_Hotaru: *sigh*_ Sometimes Dai is more of a hindrance than a help…) Must…resist…hyperness…caused by…Tigger theme…thank you for reviewing.

_GoldenDragon326:_ Indeed. In an unrelated note, I actually missed the part when the others revived Kouichi when I originally saw episode 50. My mother needed me to do something for her quickly, and when I came back, the episode was over. I was upset. Oh well. Thank you for reviewing.

_Aldamonburst:_ Pandas are quite adorable, much like Kaito. You'll never understand his cuteness, Donald. Thank you for the review, Burst.

_fg1fg:_ I'll never understand twincest either. (_Kouji and Kouichi:_ Ew…) (_Zoe:_ I wasn't gonna let that stupid bear get away with trying to hurt Kouichi…) (_Kouichi:_ …I still couldn't kill her…) (_Shino:_ Yeah…freakin' genius…) Let me just warn you right now that this story is FAR from over. Anyway, thank you for the review.

_Shadowfox94:_ I personally think emo guys are likeable because we pity them the most. (_Nina:_ I can sneeze if I wanna sneeze!) (_Duskmon: *sigh*_) (_Impmon:_ Nope, I'm not! ^_^) Shino didn't lose his actual HUMAN arms, and his arms will come back when he Spirit Evolves to Arbormon again, so he'll be fine. Thank you for the review.

_Zanzibar1:_ Yes, it was a weird chapter. But I can be a bit of a weird person, so I suppose that makes sense. Thank you for reviewing.

_TobiGB:_ (_Everyone: *sweatdrops*_) (_JP:_ Well, you heard the man, Taki. Time to die.) (_Takuya: *grows pale*_) Thank you very much, GB. Sephiroth, you could learn some manners.

_13wolfsbane:_ I'm glad you liked it, 13. (_Kouichi: *sigh*_) (_Dai:_ ^_^ Thank you!) Don't worry, Yin, I won't give it to him. (_Kouji:_ Give what to whom?) Go away. (_Kouji: *shrugs*_ Whatever.) Thank you for the review, girls. (_Takuya:_ O.o One million dollars…?)

_Felicity Taylor:_ Gigasmon was referencing a popular line from the movie _The Sixth Sense_. I'm glad that you enjoyed the humor. I like humor as well. Thank you for reviewing.

_Immortal Fallen Radiance:_ Yes, I believe that picking on characters in quite entertaining, too. Thank you for reviewing.

_*break*_

_madjack89:_ Alright, since Takuya has given Dai the task of being my replacement hyperness, I'll let him start the chapter off with a loud exclamation.

_Dai:_ Okay! Let's get this chapter underway, everybody! I hope you like it! ^.^

_madjack89:_ Good job, Dai.

_Dai: _Thanks!

—

Pain. That was the first thing Takuya felt upon regaining consciousness. Then, slowly becoming aware of the strength and red-hot power coursing through his limbs, a power that could never be possessed by a mere human, he realized that he hadn't reverted back to his human form when he'd smacked straight into the ground, miraculously. Propping himself up on his elbows, he surveyed the area around him, hoping against hope that his friends had had the same good luck.

He thought he could see a couple of Digital hands and legs sticking out of the rumble, but all of the dust and rocks and debris made it hard to tell. Still too dazed to get to his feet, Aldamon crawled slowly toward the nearest piece of rumble, on top of which lay a pair of blue-green feet, looking like they belonged to an oh-so-familiar female Digimon.

"Kira?" he muttered quietly, peering over the boulder to see that Ranamon was indeed the owner of the feet he'd seen. Her eyes were closed and her body lay still, so she hadn't regained consciousness yet…but wasn't her neck bent at a slightly odd angle…?

Feeling a surge of panic, Aldamon shouted, "Kira!"

Ranamon's eyes snapped open, startled awake by Aldamon's shout. Turning her head, she relaxed when she saw who was staring down at her. "Hey Taki. That was one random-ass gust of wind, huh?"

Aldamon sighed in relief. She was okay. "No kidding," he replied, pulling himself over the boulder so that he could help Ranamon to her feet. Her movements were shaky, but she seemed to be about as okay as she could be.

"Damn, luck must've been on our side today," she muttered once she was on her feet, staring up at the topmost point of the RMS from which she and the others had fallen. "Not a lot of people survive falling from that height, I'd wager."

"Well, we were Spirit Evolved at the time, and Digimon are a little more resilient than humans," Aldamon said listlessly, realizing that he was able to see the other Digimon scattered through the wreckage now that he was on his feet. Noticing that his friends were beginning to stir as well, he felt a wave of relief wash over him. _We're okay…_ "Okay, whoever's not dead, raise your hand!" he announced, feeling good enough to joke around.

In response, there was a chorus of groans and a "Screw you, Takuya," from the others. Both Aldamon and Ranamon grinned in response. "I think they're alright, Taki," Ranamon stated.

"You know you're having a bad day when just before you hit the ground after falling fifty feet, you remember you can fly," Beetlemon muttered sarcastically, glancing at the other Legendary Warriors capable of flight.

Aldamon's grin turned into a frown. "I didn't realize that till now! Damn it!"

"The wind kinda caught me off guard," Zephyrmon explained, shaking her head to try to clear it. "I'm not used to gusts of wind being used AGAINST me."

"Yeah…weird…" Zephyrmon jumped in surprise when Raihimon spoke, mostly because his voice was coming from below her. Looking down, she realized that she hadn't been lying on a big, strangely-formed rock this whole time; she'd been lying on Raihimon.

"Sorry!" Zephyrmon apologized, quickly getting up and off of the other Digimon. Then, crouching by his side as he sat up, she muttered, "Kouichi…were you trying to shield me from hitting the ground?"

Raihimon took a moment, and then sheepishly responded, "Well, I WISH I could say that I was shielding you, but I hadn't really been thinking about that when we were falling. I guess you just landed on me out of sheer coincidence. Sorry."

Zephyrmon sighed. "You know, any other guy would've just said yes."

"I didn't want to lie," Raihimon mumbled, embarrassed.

Chuckling slightly, Zephyrmon wrapped Raihimon's neck in a quick hug. "I wouldn't have it any other way. Besides, I warned you not to stupidly protect me."

"Hold off on the romance, guys!" Petaldramon suddenly shouted, glancing around fearfully. "Oh no…"

"What is it?" Mercurymon asked, raising his shields in preparation for an attack.

"Oh god…" Petaldramon muttered, ignoring Mercurymon. "Guys…I only count nine of us. Where's Tommy?"

_Tommy…_

Aldamon didn't move, didn't breath, didn't think for a whole ten seconds. Then he sprang into action. "Guys, start moving rocks out of the way! He's gotta be here somewhere!"

Thawing slightly from the shock thanks to their leader's command, the others started searching, shoving rocks and debris left and right and calling their younger friend's name. They'd only been at it for a few moments when their efforts were suddenly interrupted.

"I told her that shoving you off the RMS was a bad idea."

Everyone turned toward the structure looming above them to see the Digimon leaning against its wall, watching them calmly; Duskmon.

Raihimon reacted almost instantly, brandishing his lance and charging straight at Duskmon. Of course, Duskmon managed to block Raihimon's attack with his swords, but that didn't matter. Raihimon hadn't been aiming to kill, anyway.

The two dark Digimon stared each other down for one tense moment. Then Raihimon asked flatly, "So, how's Nina?"

"Heh," Duskmon chuckled, not seeming surprised by the question. "Of course you knew she'd come back to me after you got rid of her. Oh, and she's scolding you for attacking me right now. 'Bad, bad kitty.'"

Raihimon leaped back, keeping his lance between himself and Duskmon. "Is she seriously thinking of trying to corrupt me again? Sorry, but I'm not letting that happen."

"WE'RE not letting that happen," Zephyrmon corrected, pushing herself up with her wings and landing gracefully next to Raihimon. "You're never taking Kouichi from me again."

"And even if you do somehow manage to corrupt him, Ellie and I will be there to bring him back," Beowulfmon added, brandishing his own weapon. "You can't win against the four of us."

"Don't forget the rest of the gang, pretty boy!" Ranamon said enthusiastically, gesturing to the rest of their group and herself. "In case you've forgotten, I still have a score to settle with Dusky here. He ripped off my bedroom window frame and proceeded to kick my ass, admittedly, back in the human world, and now it's payback time!"

"Plus he tried to kill me back in the TV Forest!" Gigasmon added.

"That was just me following orders, like always. Now…" Duskmon trailed off, smirking to himself. "I don't give a damn what that bitch Ilsemon says."

"Guy—" The others turned as Beetlemon's shout was cut short by a gloved paw clamping over his mouth, or at least the mask covering of his mouth. Either way, Renamon had caught him.

She apparently hadn't been looking for a hostage, though, because her paws were glowing with that unmistakably strange power of hers, draining Beetlemon like a battery. It was quick, only taking a couple seconds, and then Renamon let the Warrior of Thunder fall to the ground, reverting back to his human form as he lost consciousness.

"Good job, Renamon," Duskmon commented, breaking the silence. Renamon simply nodded, staring at the yellow, glowing energy she still held in her paws.

Reacting to this exchange, Raihimon turned and swung at Duskmon, who blocked this surprise attack a bit less easily than the last. "What's going on?" Raihimon asked, glaring threateningly at his enemy. "You're making it easier for Ilsemon to finish us off? Or has Nina decided I'm too much of a hassle and wants us all dead?"

Duskmon shook his head slightly, seeming exasperated by Raihimon's assumption. "Not even close. We're trying to save you FROM Ilsemon. Nina's plan for your friends would never come to fruition if Ilsemon 'accidentally' killed them and/or drove them insane."

"Nina's plan for…?" Raihimon lowered his weapon slowly, glancing briefly over his shoulder at his group of friends. Then, recovering his anger, he lifted his lance, holding it at Duskmon's throat. "What does Nina want with the others? Talk. Now."

"Duskmon!" The gang was surprised when Renamon shouted Duskmon's name, sounding almost…concerned for him.

What was more surprising was Duskmon's reaction. "I'm fine, Renamon," Duskmon replied, keeping his gaze fixed on Raihimon. However, his extra eyeballs all seemed to have swiveled toward Renamon. Duskmon and Renamon…had they ever seemed close? Not before this moment…

The others had little time to ponder this before Duskmon replied to Raihimon's question. "Nina has formed a new plan to bring you back to her, Kouichi. That plan involves your friends, not just Kouji this time, though one of her goals is still to kill him. That's all I can tell you."

"You're lying," Raihimon growled, pressing the tip of his lance against Duskmon's armor, knowing it would be simple to push it straight through to the vulnerable data underneath, unraveling it, watching Duskmon disintegrate… "You know more."

"Nina doesn't tell me everything," Duskmon responded coolly, unfazed by Raihimon's sudden ferocity. "That's all I know."

Raihimon would have pressed for more information, but Zephyrmon had noticed his growing anger and had placed a hand soothingly on his shoulder. "Calm down," she muttered quietly, staring pensively at Duskmon. "I know you want to, but don't kill Duskmon now. Not yet."

"Are you still needlessly pitying me, girl?" Duskmon asked, glancing over Raihimon's shoulder at Zephyrmon.

Zephyrmon's expression darkened. "Of course not. You killed any pity I may have felt for you when I saw what you ultimately helped Nina do to Kouichi. I was just thinking that we shouldn't kill Nina's vessel. She'd have to find someone else to inhabit, and then we'd have to go and find her instead of knowing she's conveniently hiding inside you."

Raihimon glared at Duskmon a moment longer, then sighed and lowered his lance, knowing that Zephyrmon was right. "Fine. I won't kill him."

"But that doesn't mean I won't hurt him." Of course, Duskmon knew that Beowulfmon had been sneaking around behind him while the others were providing a distraction. Of course, Beowulfmon knew this, too. That was why his sword was already raised, prepared to fall on this sorry excuse for a Digimon's head.

Before he got that far, he felt a sharp kick in his left side, knocking him several feet to the right, completely out of range of Duskmon. Raihimon was at his side in an instant, and both brothers turned to stare at the Digimon who had defended Duskmon. Renamon.

The gang watched, perplexed, as Renamon turned toward Duskmon and asked, "Are you alright?"

"Yes," Duskmon replied curtly. Then, almost as an afterthought, he mumbled, "Thank you."

"Whoa, you can be polite without spontaneously combusting?" Ranamon said, shocked by Duskmon's reply. "What happened to the Dusky we know and loathe?"

The slightly timid glance Duskmon had given Renamon changed to a look of irritation when he turned to glare at Ranamon. "Oh, he's still here. Would you like to say hello for old times' sake?"

"Duskmon isn't your opponent now," Renamon stated, quickly stepping in front of Duskmon to prevent the oncoming brawl. "I am."

Ranamon smirked, raising her fists in anticipation. "Bring it, Foxy."

"Sorry I'm late, children. Running a war can be so time-consuming."

She'd come out of nowhere. No one had seen her approach, not a single person or Digimon had sensed her presence until she'd spoken. Even Duskmon and Renamon seemed surprised to see her there, standing behind Ranamon, one hand resting gently on the shorter Digimon's shoulder. But it was obvious from the triumphant gleam in her eye that Duskmon and Renamon's plan to "save" the Legendary Warrior children from her had backfired, because Ilsemon now stood in their midst.

Glancing at everyone's shocked expressions, Ilsemon smiled darkly, her cold blue eyes sparkling with pleasure. It suddenly didn't matter that they greatly outnumbered her. It didn't matter that she wasn't a fighter. It didn't matter that they could easily surround her and kill her. From the look on her face, it was obvious that Ilsemon thought she'd already won.

_It's no wonder that SHE'S Lucemon's sister_, Aldamon thought. The gang, besides Kouji, had never actually encountered Ilsemon in person; they'd just heard stories. However, Takuya could easily match those stories with the Digimon standing in their midst. He felt just as chilled by her presence as he had by Lucemon's. They had the same evil, nearly insane edge to their expressions, the same icy blue eyes. The only thing he couldn't fathom was how Masumon could possibly be their sister.

Ilsemon's sweeping gaze suddenly stopped on Renamon and Duskmon. "So you have betrayed me as well, Renamon?" she asked, sounding hurt. The glint in her eyes told everyone that she didn't actually care. Renamon and Duskmon's attempted interference in whatever plans she had hadn't hurt a thing.

Renamon, who had seemed so calm and sure before, fell to one knee before her mistress, bowing her head in shame. "I am sorry, milady. It was just that…if you were to fight these children, you would more than likely end up killing them."

Ilsemon laughed at this, and Ranamon tried to hide her pained grimace as the hand on her shoulder clamped down like a talon, nails embedding in flesh. Aldamon noticed Ranamon's pain and clenched his fists. He didn't attack, though. Only Kouji had experienced the effect of Ilsemon's powers first-hand, but they all knew what she could do. Ranamon had become Ilsemon's hostage in less than a second, and everyone knew it.

"Oh, Renamon, have faith in me!" Ilsemon said once her fit of laughter had ceased. A smile still stuck on her face, she took one step back from Ranamon, letting her hand fall from the Legendary Warrior's shoulder.

Less than a second later, Ranamon was on the ground, reverting back to her human form. Ilsemon was suddenly facing the opposite way from which she had been a moment before, a triumphant gleam in her icy gaze.

Everyone was shocked silent but Aldamon. "Kira!" he cried, rushing forward. He barely noticed Ilsemon's gaze snap toward him. His focus was on Kira, lying unconscious and vulnerable on the ground. He had to protect her. He had to keep her safe. _I have to…_

Suddenly, Aldamon felt something hard smack right against the back of his skull. His vision became blurry and unfocused as he quickly lost consciousness. He was already gone by the time he hit the ground.

"Takuya!"

—

"Hey Dragra!" Witchmon called to her friend, clocking a Boarmon in the snout as she did so.

"Yeah Witchy?" Dragramon replied, tackling three Ogremon in order to get closer to Witchmon so they wouldn't have to yell across the hundreds of Digital heads surrounding them.

Witchmon gestured for Dragramon to come even closer, and soon the two were facing the enemy back to back. Before plowing through the masses of Digimon around them, Witchmon muttered, "You heard that big noise, didn't you, Dragra?"

"If you mean the big explosion-y sound coming from behind the RMS, then yeah, I heard it," Dragramon said, glancing up at her friend. "That can only mean one thing."

"Yup," Witchmon agreed, raising her hand just as her broomstick flew into her waiting grasp. "Looks like the kids found the big boss."

—

"Please try not to worry so much, Masumon!" Swanmon pleaded, desperately trying to calm Masumon's frayed nerves.

"I can't stop worrying," Masumon replied, continuing to pace up and down the nursery cavern. "I just can't stop thinking about those children. If Kou—any of them got hurt, I wouldn't be able to take it!"

"No need to fret, Masumon," Bokomon stated, standing beside Swanmon with a confident look on his face. "No matter what, those children always find a way to defeat their foes. They are Legendary Warriors, after all!"

"But didn't Kouichi almost get killed the last time they—" Bokomon quickly clamped his paws over Neemon's mouth before his companion could say more. The last thing they needed was to scare Masumon with stories of the past.

But Masumon had already figured out what Neemon had been trying to say. "Oh no, that's right! What if something like that happens again, only the person DOESN'T survive? They're all bound so tightly to each other that I doubt they'd be able to stand losing a member of their group! But what if one of them doesn't make it? What if Kou—"

"Masumon!" Swanmon shouted, interrupting the other Digimon's babbling. Then, in a gentler tone, she said, "I understand that you're scared for them and you wish that you could help them fight. But our place isn't on the field of battle. It's down here, watching over the younger Digimon in the tunnels until they return. You said it yourself; your sister is no fighter. Once the children have incapacitated her guards, it will be a simple thing to finish her off and end this senseless fighting, once and for all."

Masumon, moved by Swanmon's speech, smiled slightly and nodded. "Thank you, Swanmon. I'll try not to worry so much."

_But still…_ she added to herself, staring morosely at her hands. _I wish that I could do something to help them…to help Kouji…_

—

Takuya woke a minute or so later to find that the others had all been beaten while he was out of it. That is, except for Dai. He gained full awareness just in time to see Gigasmon make a valiant effort to clock Ilsemon in the side of the head. But when he was about to make contact with his adversary, his fist cut harmlessly through thin air.

Then Takuya saw Ilsemon appear behind Gigasmon, leg sweeping toward the other Digimon's head. "Dai…" Takuya tried to warn his friend of the attack, but his voice was laced with too much pain and the warning came out as a mere whisper. A moment later, Dai lay at Ilsemon's feet, beaten and in human form.

Ilsemon's wings twitched with amusement as she turned back to her underlings. "You see, Renamon? I can use self-restraint."

"Yes, giving them all severe head injuries proves that you're the epitome of restraint," Duskmon mumbled just loud enough for Takuya to catch.

Ilsemon replied haughtily to Duskmon's comment, but Takuya's attention suddenly drifted to the two bodies laying about a foot in front of him. Wait…bodies? No, they were breathing…right? Ilsemon couldn't have killed Kouji and Kouichi…could she?

Moving slowly and carefully so as not to attract attention from Ilsemon or her two lackeys (though this may not have been an apt term to describe Duskmon anymore), Takuya crawled forward until he could reach out his hand and check Kouji's wrist for his friend's pulse. He could definitely see the rise and fall of the twins' chests now that he was closer, but he had to be sure…

"Takuya." Apparently, Kouji hadn't been as out of it as Takuya had thought. Perhaps Ilsemon really HAD gone easy on them.

Still, Kouji and, for that matter, all of them were feeling the effects of being blown off a building, surviving a fall that would've killed them in their human forms, and receiving roadhouse kicks to the head from their supposedly "helpless" enemy. All of this combined pain showed just as plainly on Kouji's face as it did Takuya's, but Kouji still went on to ask, "Are you alright, Takuya?"

This statement made Takuya realize something. Kouji and Kouichi hadn't been anywhere near him when he'd lost consciousness. Did that mean they'd…tried to defend him from Ilsemon?

"Kouji…" Takuya's initial reaction to this revelation was shock, but this quickly turned to confused anger. "Why are you doing this? Why do you keep protecting me from everything? I don't need your protection! I should be protecting you guys, right? I'm the leader, aren't I? I—"

"If you were trying to fake unconsciousness, you probably shouldn't have yelled all of that." Ilsemon was suddenly standing above the two boys, an amused smile on her face. Kouji and Takuya managed to push themselves to their feet, both glaring at their adversary. Their anger barely made Ilsemon flinch. "Touchy, aren't you? But as to what you were arguing about before, I happen to know exactly why Kouji is feeling so overprotective today. Something about a prophecy…"

"Shut the hell up!" Kouji exclaimed, swinging a fist blindly at Ilsemon. With her apparently superior Digimon reflexes, she easily caught Kouji's arm before his fist could get anywhere near her. Smiling, Ilsemon twisted Kouji's arm around until he couldn't help but flinch at the pain.

"Kouji!" Kouichi cried, watching helplessly as Ilsemon nearly twisted his brother's arm off. Takuya felt just as helpless, if not more so. He was the leader. _I should be able to do something to stop this…_

Just as it seemed that Ilsemon really WOULD rip off Kouji's arm, she stopped. "This probably isn't a good idea. If I tore this off, you'd suffer massive blood loss and die, wouldn't you?" she muttered to herself, slowly twisting Kouji's arm back into its original position. "Humans and their weaknesses…"

In a flash of speed that Takuya would have missed had he blinked, Ilsemon released Kouji's arm and, curling her other hand into a fist, punched Kouji straight in the stomach, knocking the breath out of him. Kouji let out a shocked gasp and fell to his knees, hugging himself tightly as he doubled over in pain.

"Kouji!" Takuya tried to go to Kouji's side, but Ilsemon's arm was suddenly held under his neck, locking him in a chokehold. Gasping for air, Takuya grabbed at Ilsemon's arm, desperately trying to free himself.

"Get off of him!" After quickly checking on his brother, Kouichi's attention turned toward his friend. Grabbing his D-Tector, he growled, "Let go of him now, Ilsemon, or I'll make you let go!"

"If you attack me, I'll just snap his neck," Ilsemon replied, squeezing Takuya's neck even harder for emphasis. "Your choice."

Kouichi glared at Ilsemon for another second, then lowered his head in defeat. "Just stop choking him. Now."

"I don't believe that you're in a position to give orders, but very well," Ilsemon said, loosening her grip on Takuya's neck. Waiting for her captive to suck in a few lungfuls of air, Ilsemon slowly lowered her head until she was in entirely uncomfortable proximity to Takuya's ear and muttered, "'You shall find a lost soul that yearns for you, but knows not your name. Darkness licks at the heels of the one that has already found the light, but is shunned by the light all the same. But the joining of the light and the dark cannot save you now, for it will only bring greater pain to all. The only way to prevent his rising is to protect the flame from blowing out. And always remember: a light shines in the darkness.'"

Takuya glanced at Kouichi, wondering if his friend could make any sense out of what Ilsemon had said. But Kouichi just lowered his head, looking almost…ashamed. Kouji, who had recovered slightly from Ilsemon's blow, was glaring at Ilsemon furiously. "Don't tell him."

"Don't tell him what?" Ilsemon asked, mocking innocence. "Don't tell him that HE is the flame that will be blown out? Don't tell him that HE is the one who must supposedly prevent Lucemon's rebirth? Don't tell him that he is destined…to die before he gets the chance?"

For some reason, Ilsemon's statement didn't surprise Takuya. It didn't even bother him. It just…explained the twins' behavior. Even he could work out what most of that prophecy had been about. All of it had come true, save the part about "the joining of the light and the dark." But still, if most of it WAS true, then the part about his death…

Takuya closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and asked, "How did you two find out about this?"

"I told Kouichi about it last night," Kouji explained flatly, letting Kouichi help him to his feet. Then in the same deadpan, emotionless voice, he added, "I found out from Shamanmon's apprentice, Palmon. She's about as good as her teacher, and she agreed to tell my fortune…along with some of yours, I guess."

"Ah, Palmon…she is quite the fortune-teller," Ilsemon muttered, chuckling darkly. "You know, she prophesied that you'd all lose if you faced me. Oh well, who listens to those silly fortunes, anyway?"

Takuya ignored Ilsemon, directing his next question at Kouji. "Why didn't you tell me?"

Kouji didn't reply for several moments. Kouichi was about to respond for him when he finally said, "I told myself that it was because it wouldn't make a difference to you whether you knew about the prophecy or not, but I don't think that's exactly right anymore. The real reason I didn't tell anyone is because I thought, if less people knew about it, then…maybe it wouldn't need to come true."

Takuya didn't respond, leading to another tense moment of silence. Growing bored, Ilsemon broke the tedious quiet. "Oh, what a tangled web we weave! But as fascinating as this drama is, I feel it is time to move on to another matter."

In the next instant, Ilsemon was in front of Kouichi, smiling darkly. "I have quite a secret to reveal to you," she said, grabbing Kouichi by the shirt collar and lifting him slowly off the ground.

"Kouichi!" Kouji, Takuya, a now fully conscious Zoe, and…Duskmon shouted?

Ignoring the other three, Ilsemon cocked her head at the dark Digimon. "Oh dear, Duskmon. Have you begun to care for this child's well-being? Or perhaps you've just grown tired of all this death and despair…?"

Duskmon glared murderously back at Ilsemon. "Don't try to analyze me, you psychopath. I'm just pointing out the fact that Nina has a pretty strong desire for you to keep Kouichi alive."

In response to Duskmon's statement, Ilsemon turned and slammed Kouichi hard against the nearest boulder, causing him to cry out in pain. She smirked when she noticed Kouji wince. "Your connection with your brother has grown stronger. How…interesting. As for your concerns, Duskmon, there is no need to be alarmed. I will not injure Kouichi."

"Then what do you call slamming him against a rock?" Duskmon growled angrily.

"I will show restraint despite his delightfully depressing mind," Ilsemon continued, ignoring Duskmon. "However, I believe it's time that I unlock the memory I've been concealing from him."

"What are you…?" Kouichi's question trailed off as Ilsemon's power began to take effect. A fog that he'd never been aware existed was suddenly lifted from his mind, and he remembered… "You…you were the one…"

Ilsemon smiled darkly. "Yes, Kouichi. I was the one. Cherubimon was merely a scapegoat. But quite a realistic memory I replaced this one with, no?"

Kouichi's brows slowly furrowed as he glared up at Ilsemon. "You sadistic…"

Before he could say more, Ilsemon pulled him back into the air and slammed him against the boulder again, only this time she put much more force behind it. Takuya flinched at the strangled half-pained cry, half-choke Kouichi uttered before Ilsemon released her grip on him, letting him drop to the ground at her feet.

"You call THAT not injuring him?" Duskmon shouted, growing more furious and irritated by the second.

"What can I say? I'm evil," Ilsemon retorted, shrugging nonchalantly. "Now…"

"You bitch!" Zoe was suddenly rushing at Ilsemon, D-Tector raised threateningly. Despite the obvious pain he was in thanks to his bond with Kouichi, Kouji managed to grab his own D-Tector and do the same. For a moment Ilsemon just stood and watched the two run at her from opposite sides. Then, when they were both about an arm's length away from her (and about to Spirit Evolve), she grabbed one of Zoe's and one of Kouji's arms, halting their attack.

Then, with that insane speed of hers, she wrenched Kouji's arm downward, causing him to fly off his feet and fall flat on his face. Turning to Zoe, she grabbed the girl's arm with both her hands, took a moment to savor Zoe's horrified look, and snapped her arm like a twig.

Shocked, Takuya could only stare as Zoe fell to her knees, cradling her broken, mangled arm while still glaring at her adversary. Of course Zoe would do that. She didn't like to show weakness, even when she was hurt. _She's too strong…_

Ilsemon, smiling cockily, stooped down to Zoe's eye level, icy gaze fixed on Zoe's arm. "My, how fragile humans are," she muttered, reaching out a hand to not-so-gently poke Zoe's broken arm. "Does this hurt?"

"Argh!" Zoe couldn't help but let out a small cry of pain, which told Takuya that Ilsemon had officially gone too far.

"Get away from her!" Takuya demanded angrily, glowering at Ilsemon as he raised his D-Tector and…

Suddenly, his D-Tector was snatched out of his hands. Takuya instantly knew where it had gone. Ilsemon's speed was unreal. It was like she was teleporting from spot to spot. That made it all the more shocking when, in only three seconds' time, Ilsemon dropped Takuya's D-Tector to the ground, raised her foot, and stomped on the device, crushing it under her weight.

The deafening crunch produced by his D-Tector, his power, his entire purpose in this Digital World, reverberated in Takuya's ears. He remained motionless as Ilsemon slowly lifted her foot, revealing what was left of his device. It was so cracked and broken that Takuya knew it couldn't be put back together. He couldn't Spirit Evolve anymore. Agunimon couldn't help him anymore. He was on his own.

"Oops," Ilsemon said, smirking wickedly. "It looks like I've broken your toy. What a pity."

"Why…?" Takuya barely reacted to Kouji's strained question, but he still heard his friend ask Ilsemon, "Why are you so damn powerful? Masumon said…"

"She told you that I'm a peaceful, nonviolent Digimon such as herself," Ilsemon finished, turning to face Kouji. "And she was correct. I am not a violent Digimon by nature. In fact, my powers were never meant to be used for torture…until I realized how much fun it was.

"But that's a story for another time," Ilsemon said, walking toward Kouji until she stood towering above him. Crouching down, she lowered her hand and gently lifted Kouji's chin until he could stare straight into her eyes. "To answer your question, child, I may be nonviolent by nature, but that in no way means that I couldn't learn to be on my own. My mental powers aren't the only skills I've honed, after all."

Kouji didn't reply. He just continued to glare at Ilsemon, eyes blazing with his hatred for her. This hatred only made Ilsemon's smile widen. "Those eyes…so beautifully mesmerizing, even filled with such rage. It's no wonder that my sister loves you."

"Loved," Kouji said flatly, correcting Ilsemon's statement.

Ilsemon chuckled, finding Kouji's statement amusing. "You and I both know that is not completely true. Somewhere deep inside my sister lies your Seiko, filled with all her love for you. It doesn't matter that she can't remember who she was or what she had with you; her love still shines through…"

"I know," Kouji growled quietly, face expressionless. "But then again, I guess her love never really left me…"

Ilsemon chuckled again. "What a romantic you're turning out to be." Then, using her speed, she hopped back to her feet, letting Kouji's head smack against the ground. To add more injury to insult, Ilsemon gave him a good kick to the side, almost as if he were some dog she wanted to abuse. Actually, this analogy was probably quite accurate.

Infuriated, Takuya stepped forward, prepared to defend Kouji against…that's when he remembered what lay on the ground at his feet. His broken D-Tector.

_I'm useless without it_, he realized, sinking deeper into his despair. _I can't protect anyone. I've let everyone down. I've failed!_

_And now I'll die…_

"Ah!" Ilsemon's surprised shout suddenly grabbed Takuya's attention, mostly because the sound was so foreign. His gaze snapped up just in time to see Hotaru clocking Ilsemon right in the face, knocking her off balance. She didn't fall, though. That would have been too much to hope for. Nevertheless, Hotaru had actually landed a punch on Ilsemon, something that no one had been able to do this entire fight. Maybe he'd managed to take her down a peg or two.

However, Ilsemon's confident smile never left her face. "Ow," she muttered, rubbing her cheek. "That hurt."

Hotaru didn't reply, containing his rage in his furious expression and clenched fists. Ilsemon chuckled at his obvious restraint. "Such power…yet it all goes to waste. It's a pity, really, that you've become a slave to those you hold dear. You're better than that."

"Go to hell, psychopath," Hotaru growled, actually letting some of his anger show in his voice.

"You call me a psychopath?" Ilsemon muttered, chuckling softly. "My dear boy, it is true that you are one of the most level-headed people in your group…but you are also arguably one of the most screwed up."

With that, Ilsemon snapped her fingers. Hotaru tensed, expecting an enemy of some sort to jump out and attack him. What he didn't expect was a Phantomon to appear behind him, cloak raised, and snatch him up inside its eyeball-shaped crystal pendant. A quick nod to Ilsemon and the Phantomon was gone just as quickly as it had appeared, taking Hotaru with it.

"Oh, I simply can't wait to dig deeper into the complexities of that boy's mind!" Ilsemon's gleeful excitement at the prospect of torturing his friend sent shivers down Takuya's spine. There had to be a way to save Hotaru. That Phantomon had to be somewhere in the RMS, locking his prisoner away…maybe that was what Takuya could do. He could sneak away while Ilsemon was distracted, find out where Hotaru was being kept, release him…but how could he defeat Phantomon without his D-Tector?

_Useless…_

"What did you do to Hotaru?" Dai's sudden demanding shout brought Takuya back to the present. He watched as Dai rose shakily to his feet, standing boldly before Ilsemon despite the fact that he kept wincing from some unknown pain. Then his hand rose absently toward his chest, and Takuya realized…

"Defective," Ilsemon said, noticing Dai's gesture as well. Stepping toward the much shorter boy, she continued, "I honestly cannot fathom why a human such as you would be deemed worthy of wielding a Legendary Warrior's Spirit. Your companions all have talents, skills, obvious reasons why they were chosen for this task. But you…you'll more than likely end up dead before this whole mess is over. So why keep fighting?"

Instead of throwing back a witty retort or even harshly refuting Ilsemon's claim, Dai did what he always did. The unpredictable. Flashing a quick smile at Ilsemon, he proceeded to stick his tongue out at the psychotic Digimon.

His victory was momentary, for Ilsemon, actually seeming agitated by Dai's antics, cocked back her fist and punched Dai square in the face, hard enough to at least bust his lip.

As he landed back on the cold, hard ground, Ilsemon turned to survey the damage she'd done. Spotting Kira and Shino struggling to their feet, she smirked. "It seems there are only two of you left. That is, of course, unless the Warrior of Ice did survive the fall after all."

_Tommy…_

That's right…they'd never found Tommy…he still hadn't resurfaced…did that really mean that he'd…no, he wasn't the one that was prophesied to die…

_You're not going to die, Takuya!_

"Agunimon?" Takuya was so surprised by his Spirit's shout that he spoke the Legendary Warrior's name aloud. Ilsemon, however, was too preoccupied with her new prey to notice.

"Hm," the Digimon muttered ponderingly, glancing between Kira and Shino. "Let's see; a violent, emotionally closed-off Yankee…"

"Not a Yankee," Kira muttered.

"Or a pathetically under-confident loser," Ilsemon continued, ignoring Kira and turning to Shino. "Such interesting options…"

Kira stepped forward, fists clenched furiously. Before she could get anywhere near Ilsemon, though, Shino grabbed her arm and stopped her. Unlike Kira, he knew not to let Ilsemon's comments get to him. He knew he had to keep his cool, both for his sake and his friends. Especially Takuya, who had lost his…

"Ah, I know!" Ilsemon's excited shout snapped Shino out of his thoughts. Warily, he watched Ilsemon's smile widen, gaze fixed not on him, but on Kira.

_No you don't!_ Takuya stepped forward, eyes trained on Ilsemon, blinded by his fury.

_Takuya, calm down!_

"Nick-of-time Thunder Fist!"

Ilsemon dove gracefully out of Beetlemon's way, easily dodging his attack, even the stray sparks of electricity that flew out from his fist once he'd hit the ground. The others had to shield their eyes from the bright intensity of the sparks, momentarily worried that Beetlemon would lose control and hit someone other than Ilsemon by mistake. He didn't, and soon the sparks fizzled and died, leaving Beetlemon standing with his fist pressed against the ground, breathing heavily.

_He put all his energy into that attack,_ Takuya thought despairingly, watching Beetlemon struggle to stand upright, stumbling slightly as he did so. For a moment, he'd been hopeful. He'd thought that maybe Beetlemon still had the strength to fight, even after Renamon had sapped most of his energy. But he didn't. _JP could probably barely muster the strength to Spirit Evolve, let alone attack…I should be able to help him, damn it!_

_You can help him by keeping your cool and staying alive, Takuya!_

"Oh my," Ilsemon muttered, chuckling to herself as she stared at Beetlemon. "I must admit that I momentarily forgot about you."

"Gee, don't I feel special?" Beetlemon retorted, still feeling witty despite his exhaustion. "Though I did think it was a little insulting when no one noticed me crawl behind a rock, Spirit Evolve, and fly into the air."

"I noticed," Duskmon said, raising an arm nonchalantly. "I just hate Ilsemon."

Ignoring Duskmon's blatantly treasonous comment, Ilsemon merely smiled and said, "Well, Warrior, you seem to be at the end of your strength, but just in case…"

Quick as a flash, Ilsemon stood a mere foot in front of Beetlemon, a perfect target. The only problem was that she now held Shino in a tight embrace, using him as a shield. "Put him down, Ilsemon!" Beetlemon instantly exclaimed, anger making him appear more powerful than he actually felt.

Knowing that Beetlemon was spent, Ilsemon only squeezed Shino tighter, making their embrace all the more uncomfortable, and painful, for Shino. "Let him go, damn it!" Kira exclaimed, rushing toward Ilsemon from behind. Ilsemon stepped lazily out of the way, causing Kira to crash into Beetlemon and start beating on his chest for a few moments until she realized that she wasn't beating Ilsemon. Smiling sheepishly, Kira muttered, "Sorry 'bout that, JP."

"No worries, Kira," Beetlemon muttered, rolling his eyes.

Ilsemon yawned, apparently growing bored. "It's not that your witty dialogue isn't amusing, children, but I'm beginning to tire of these games. It is about time that I ended this. But still…" Here Ilsemon paused, glancing down at Shino with a devilish look on her face. "I actually know nothing of your past, and it would be a pity not to find out what, as humans say, 'makes you tick.'"

"Milady, you must stop!" Surprisingly, Renamon shouted her protest this time, sounding concerned. However, a look from Ilsemon quickly quieted her.

It didn't quiet Duskmon, though. "Renamon is right, Ilsemon. Stop it. You already have what you want, both for Nina and for yourself. Why drag this out any longer?"

Ilsemon shook her head as if exasperated by a young child's comment. "That's just your nature, Duskmon, isn't it? Get the job done. Never stopping to smell the roses…what a sad life you lead."

Duskmon didn't reply, just continued to glare at Ilsemon. His fury was nearly tangible in the air around him, causing Renamon to take a cautious step backwards.

Ilsemon took no heed of this, returning her attention to the person in her grasp. "Wizardmon has left his mark on you," she muttered, making Shino flinch slightly. "It's time I find out what he saw in you that day…"

"Ah!" Shino cried out in surprise, experiencing for the first time the effects of Ilsemon's powers. Flashes of his memories were suddenly brought to the forefront of his thoughts, completely free of his will. It was like he'd literally lost his mind, or at least the ability to control it. All the random snippets playing through his head were giving him a headache until it all finally stopped, right on his memory of Mai… "No…"

"Hm, interesting," Ilsemon murmured thoughtfully, ignoring Shino's wide-eyed look of horror. "This 'Mai' girl…oh, what a tease she is! Leading you on for so long…it must have hurt to find out that it had all been a lie. And then you clung to the very next girl who came your way…"

Shino squeezed his eyes shut, trying to block out the images Ilsemon was carelessly sifting through. But as much as he tried, the painful memories wouldn't leave. Shino realized that this must be what made Ilsemon so powerful; not the fact that she could force you to remember the worse memories from your past, but that she wouldn't let you stop thinking about them.

"Stop it!" Kira shouted, trying to squirm out of Beetlemon's grasp. Beetlemon was furious as well and would have let Kira charge at Ilsemon if it weren't for the look Takuya had given him. That pleading, desperate look that obviously said "Take care of Kira…now that I can't…"

However, Takuya didn't intend to do nothing. After ensuring that Kira was safe, he rushed forward, careful to step over his broken D-Tector as he did so, and charged at Ilsemon himself, intending to distract her enough to let Shino go, both physically and mentally. _I don't care if I can't Spirit Evolve. I won't stand around and watch Ilsemon torture my friends! _

_Takuya!_

Paying no heed to Agunimon's voice, Takuya cocked back his fist, intending to punch Ilsemon square in the jaw. But Ilsemon, of course, was faster and evaded his attack easily, even with Shino in tow. "Oh, so close," Ilsemon said mockingly, while Shino began to wince in her arms.

Takuya skidded to a halt, despair bubbling up inside of him. But with this despair came anger. "Damn it," Takuya cursed, body beginning to shake with fury. "Why can't we win? What have we been doing wrong? What the hell makes YOU so special, Ilsemon?"

"Perhaps I'm just better than you," Ilsemon retorted smugly.

"Shut up!" Takuya shouted, rage building. Turning to glare at his adversary, he noticed a familiar red hue begin to cloud his vision, but he didn't try to suppress it. In fact, he welcomed the uncontrolled anger, embracing it. "I'll kill you, Ilsemon…I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Takuya!" Takuya's rage dissipated slightly when he heard Kira's frightened shout. He turned, wondering if Duskmon or Renamon had finally decided to take some sort of action. But Kira and Beetlemon were fine, standing just where they'd been before, only now they looked scared for some reason.

Looking strangely confused and vulnerable, Kira said, "Taki…?" That was when Takuya realized why Kira was looking at him with such wide eyes; she was afraid of him.

Takuya's anger instantly melted away. "Kira…"

Ilsemon wasn't fazed by Takuya's fury in the least. "Very well. You may have your friend back now." With that, Ilsemon grabbed Shino by the collar of his jacket and tossed him forward as if he were a piece of garbage. Takuya realized too late that she'd actually thrown Shino at him, and moments later the two were sprawled out on the ground.

As soon as Shino was out of the way, Beetlemon released Kira and charged, meaning to ram into Ilsemon. Instead of hopping out of the way, Ilsemon extended her wings and, with several powerful flaps, rose into the air and evaded Beetlemon's assault. Then, quick as a flash, she let herself fall straight to the ground, extending her leg and ramming her foot into Beetlemon's exposed back. Beetlemon slammed into the ground and, already completely exhausted, turned back to his human form rather quickly.

"Isn't that something like what you had planned to do to me earlier?" Ilsemon asked mockingly, standing before JP as he struggled to stay conscious. "Oh, what beautiful irony!"

Smiling triumphantly, Ilsemon turned toward the last Legendary Warrior left standing. "And now for you, my dear Kira."

"Shino, you have to get off of me now!" Takuya hissed, watching as Ilsemon drew closer and closer to Kira, a wicked grin on her face. Panicked, Takuya said, "C'mon Shino, you have to let me up! Please!"

"Oh…I'm sorry," Shino mumbled quietly, pushing himself up and off of his friend. Takuya shot to his feet and was about to rush towards Kira, but stopped when he noticed Shino's haunted expression. That's right. He'd just undergone Ilsemon's infamous mind-rape. It was the same thing that had driven Kouji nearly insane, forced to relive his worst memories…

Shino noticed Takuya's gaze and smiled faintly. "I'm fine, Takuya," he said, trying and failing to sound reassuring. "It wasn't that bad."

Takuya knew this was a lie. He could see his friend's barely concealed emotions, the pain he was desperately trying to hold back, just for his sake. Glancing around the rubble, Takuya truly realized how thoroughly they'd been beaten.

Hotaru, probably the best fighter in their group, had already been captured.

Dai, always so happy and optimistic, was breathing in short, quick gasps, ignoring his bleeding lip as he desperately tried to keep his heart beating.

Zoe, with all her compassion, was cradling her broken arm, jaw clenching as she fought wave after wave of pain.

Kouichi, calm and caring, was now struggling to prop himself up onto his elbows, blood dripping slowly from the corner of his mouth.

Kouji, cool and collected, glanced back as Takuya's gaze fell on him, with a strange combination of hopelessness and determination in his expression.

JP, the one who always knew how to lighten the mood, didn't even have the energy to make a single sarcastic, witty comment.

Tommy, his little buddy, was nowhere to be found and could very well be dead, crushed under the weight of the debris surrounding the area.

And Kira, his Kira, the one he loved more than he'd ever loved anyone before…

Ilsemon grabbed Kira by the collar before she could even attempt to fight back, lifting her into the air. "Let go of me, you…" Kira growled, grabbing Ilsemon's arm in an attempt to loosen her grip. But the Digimon held strong, grinning from ear to ear.

_Kira…_ Takuya wanted to rush over and help, but if he did, Ilsemon would…

_Just stay calm, Takuya. Kira will be okay. Ilsemon's trying to provoke you. Don't let her._

Takuya closed his eyes, trying to concentrate on his Digimon spirit's voice. Agunimon was right. Ilsemon was trying to provoke him. He wouldn't let her do that. He'd just stay calm and…

"Your mother was quite pretty."

Takuya's eyes snapped open. Ilsemon was still grinning, holding Kira tightly. But Kira wasn't struggling anymore. In fact, her whole body had gone limp in Ilsemon's grip. Takuya slowly comprehended what was happening when he noticed Kira's wide, tear-filled eyes. _Your mother was quite pretty…_

Ilsemon was torturing Kira with her memory of her mother's death.

Suddenly, something snapped inside Takuya. Rage began to build up inside him, in every corner of every limb. With this rage came a strange power Takuya had never felt before. It was red hot, like fire running through his veins. But he was so furious that he barely acknowledged the pain.

_Takuya, stop! You can't handle this power! _

Even if Takuya had wanted to, he couldn't hear Agunimon anymore. All he could think was that he had to destroy Ilsemon. That was all that mattered. He had the power now to do it. It would be so simple.

_Takuya…I'm begging you! Please stop! Please…_

"Ilsemon." Takuya said the Digimon's name in a strangely flat voice, head lowered so that no one could see his expression. Ilsemon actually dropped Kira in surprise as a glowing red aura began to surround Takuya, giving off such an intense heat that even Duskmon and Renamon could feel it from where they were standing.

Kira suddenly flinched, feeling something vibrating inside her pocket. She quickly pulled out her D-Tector, which was glowing with a bright white light and shaking uncontrollably, as if it could barely contain whatever power was building inside of it. Kira looked around and saw that the others' D-Tectors were behaving in the same way. And the broken pieces of Takuya's D-Tector…

Takuya's D-Tector was glowing brighter than any of the others, but what startled Kira was that it wasn't broken anymore. Somehow, it had repaired itself, and now it was slowly rising off the ground, looking almost like a star.

Takuya extended his right arm and opened his hand, then said in that same odd, flat voice, "Come." Beckoned by its master's call, the D-Tector flew through the air and landed in Takuya's waiting palm.

D-Tector in hand, Takuya lifted his head, revealing his now glowing red eyes. "Ilsemon…now you die."

—

_madjack89:_ Chapter's done, hyper now!

_Everyone:_ …

_madjack89:_ So, what did you think?

_Kouji:_ …You lied to us.

_madjack89:_ In what way?

_Shino:_ Well, you said that Ilsemon wasn't a fighter…yet she kicked all of our asses.

_madjack89:_ Yeah, she sure did!

_Shino:_ -_-

_Takuya:_ So, uh…am I gonna turn into SkullGreymon or something now?

_madjack89:_ Well, not SkullGreymon…

_Kouji:_ Wait a second, is this how he's supposed to die?

_madjack89:_ I don't know…

_Kouji:_ -_- Well, we tried. Sorry Takuya.

_Takuya: *grows pale*_

_Sasori:_ Yes! I'm so winning this bet!

_Takuya: *glares at Sasori*_

_JP:_ So…about Tommy…

_madjack89:_ Okay, just to rest everyone's fears, Tommy's not dead. Did you really think I'd give him an off-screen death? *_cough_likemadeyemoody_cough*_

_Dai:_ So what's gonna happen next chapter?

_madjack89:_ Actually, next chapter is mostly gonna focus on Wizardmon and kinda Impmon. And a little bit on Gatomon.

_Takuya:_ So we have to wait even longer to find out what happens?

_madjack89:_ Yup!

_Kira:_ For shame, Madjack, for shame!

_madjack89:_ Yeah, yeah…alright, see ya next chapter!


	39. Ch 39: Wash It All Away

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 39: Wash It All Away**

_madjack89:_ ZOMG, we are nearly at the 40 chapter mark! That's awesome! Thank you, dear readers, for all your great support! You guys rock!

_Impmon:_ Yer all awesome!

_Wizardmon:_ Yeah…go readers…woohoo…

_madjack89:_ Ignore Wizardmon's unenthusiastic behavior. He's just mad that the pity train has now landed in his station.

_Wizardmon:_ Hmph.

_madjack89: *sigh*_ Well, a new year has officially begun, and my winter break from school lasts almost all month, so I'm gonna be doing a lot of writing, reading, and all that good stuff! Oh, and I'll catch up on my Pokémon Soul Silver game.

_Impmon and Wizardmon:_ -_-

_madjack89:_ Pokémon games are addicting and you know it!

_Impmon: *shrugs*_ I guess dat's true.

_madjack89:_ Anyway, Wizardmon and Impmon are the only ones here today, as you could probably already guess, because the gang only makes, like, one appearance in this chapter, so I gave them a chapter off.

_Impmon:_ Dat was nice o' ya.

_madjack89:_ Before I screw everything up for them in the next chapter!

_Impmon:_ …Oh.

_Wizardmon: *sigh*_

_madjack89: _Time for reviews!

_*break*_

_Taeniaea:_ Thank you very much! :)

_Immortal Fallen Radiance:_ Yes, how will Taki's anger impact the outcome of this battle? Who knows? Well, I know, but whatever. ^.^ Thanks for reviewing!

_Shadowfox94:_ (_Duskmon: *glares at review*_ Wise choice.) Yup, Ilsemon is my own lil' psycho! Aside from the others, who are all psychotic in their own special way! :) A couple of those questions shall be answered in this chapter, and some more will be answered in the next! Till then, I will continue to amuse you with hyperness! :D Thanks for reviewing!

_garnettfox:_ Wah, Madjack is sorry! She was busy! If it helps, you can slap Taki when he gets back! And thanks for reviewing!

_silver fire wolf:_ Something bad is indeed happening, Kokoro. Something bad indeed…thanks for reviewing! (Heh, holy sheebes…)

_GoldenDragon326:_ Yup, gotta get the comedy in where I can. Heh heh, sorry 'bout that. But look, I've gotten one update out of the way, and it answered some questions! Right? ^.^' Thanks for reviewing!

_Aldamonburst:_ Hi Burst! Hi Kaito! I missed you guys, too! To answer your questions, Renamon might eventually Digivolve, there will be more fusions, and I'll eat half the moon and share the other half with you! :) Thanks for reviewing!

_13wolfsbane:_ Wow, really? Thank you! I always see everything I write playing through my head like a movie. I even hear their voices in my mind. O.o' Aw, he might not die…maybe. Hee! Thanks for reviewing! Bye nee! (I've been watching too much Lucky Star…)

_fg1fg:_ Yup, they sure got their butts handed to 'em! It was like their fight with Lucemon all over again, only Kouichi didn't die this time. :) I adore references and breaking the fourth wall. Oh, don't even get me started on the Madeye Moody subject. It could take awhile. And according to the books, they learn to teleport like that in their sixth year at Hogwarts. Of course, they left that out of the movie. Meh. Thanks for reviewing!

_NobodyLovesAMisfit:_ Yay, a new Kouizumi fan! My plan is working! Mua ha ha! (jk) Thanks for reviewing!

_TobiGB:_ Thanks, GB! You're right, these guys do need to shape up. Oh wells.

_reirukuro-x:_ Yay, the awesome finally hit eleven! Let's see if I can get it even higher with some Taki awesomeness next chapter! (I wuv Taki, too!) Of course I remember you! I like your new name, btw. Thanks for reviewing!

_Dawn of Glory:_ _*blushes* _Wow, you really think I'm that good? Thank you so much! That really means a lot, since someday I really hope I can get a book published. Till then, writing fanfiction is a fun hobby! Sorry 'bout the cliffhanger, but once again, thank you so much! This review just about made my day!

_hazeleyedharmony:_ Yay, it's hazel! How ya been, buddy? Man, you were right; college kills writing time. Unless, of course, you're writing yet another essay. Oh well, I'm an English major, so the essays aren't so bad for me! Glad you liked the chapter! Thanks!

_Zanzibar1:_ Thank you very much, sir! (Or madam. lol)

_*break*_

_madjack89:_ Okay, let's start this chapter! Ready guys?

_Impmon:_ Sure.

_Wizardmon:_ No.

_madjack89:_ No one cares what you think, Wizardmon!

_Wizardmon:_ Then why are you writing a chapter focused on me?

_madjack89:_ Well…uh…so, chapter time, everyone! Hooray!

—

_"Wizardmon, get up! I gotta show ya somethin'!"_

_Wizardmon opened an eye lazily, awakened from his nap by his friend Impmon's voice. Stretching, he slowly sat up, glancing down from the tree branch he'd been sleeping on a moment before. Sure enough, Impmon was standing underneath the tree, looking slightly impatient._

_"Where's the fire, Impmon?" Wizardmon muttered, hopping down from the tree branch and landing with a soft thump next to the imp-like Digimon. "What do you have to show me?"_

_"There's no time ta explain!" Impmon said, grabbing Wizardmon's arm and dragging him quickly through the forest._

_Wizardmon cocked his head in confusion. "Shouldn't we go get Witchmon and Gatomon and bring them along, too?" Wizardmon never went anywhere without his two sisters, though the three were only "siblings" in self-proclaimed title. Still, they'd all hatched in the Village of Beginnings at the same time, and they'd been together ever since. Sure, he and Witchmon bickered sometimes, but that was why they had Gatomon. She was the glue that kept them all together._

_Impmon just shook his head, not breaking stride. "Dat'd take too long. We gotta get there before the sun goes down."_

_This confused Wizardmon even more, since the sunset was still several hours away. "Where exactly are you taking me, Impmon?"_

_Impmon didn't reply, and Wizardmon was beginning to get a little worried when they suddenly stopped in front of a huge, hollow tree trunk. "Here's da place," Impmon said, gesturing toward the tree trunk._

_"You brought me to see a tree trunk?" Wizardmon asked skeptically._

_"Nope," Impmon said, leading his friend around the immense side of the trunk toward one of its hollow openings. "It's what's inside da tree trunk dat I brought ya ta see."_

_Wizardmon didn't know what to expect, so he was quite surprised when he looked into the tree trunk's opening to see…a park. Not only was there a park, but there were small children, HUMAN children, running around and playing games with each other, laughing happily._

_Slowly turning his head, Wizardmon stared at Impmon with wide eyes. "You found a portal to the human world."_

_Impmon nodded, a smile spreading across his face. "Sure did! And now we gotta go help a human I met there."_

—

"Gatomon!" Impmon shouted yet again, increasing Wizardmon's frustration.

"Impmon, shut up!" he snapped, glaring at his companion. "If what you said about Gatomon is true, she won't respond to her name anymore, and even if she does, she'll just attack us and then we'll have to fight her, and do you really want to fight Gatomon?"

Impmon lowered his head, mollified. "No…"

"Then stop talking and start looking!" Wizardmon shot back, creeping around the outer perimeter of the RMS. She had to be around here somewhere, waiting in ambush for the Legendary brats, eyes cold and bloodthirsty…

But he couldn't think about that now. All he had to do was save her. It didn't matter how, or even why. He just had to save Gatomon. If nothing else, he couldn't let her die, too.

—

_Wizardmon stood in the middle of a park, looking absolutely stunned. He'd just stepped into the tree trunk, with some prodding from Impmon, and now found himself standing in the park he'd seen through the portal in his world. He was in the human world. He was actually in the human world._

_"Whoa, who's that guy?" Suddenly, Wizardmon found himself surrounded by human children, all staring at him with wide, curious eyes._

_"Hey, is this some sorta costume?" one of the children asked, reaching out a hand to grab Wizardmon's cloak. He shrunk back in fear, not knowing what these humans would do to him. Hadn't he heard stories of Digimon who'd stumbled into the human world and never been seen again…?_

_"Wizardmon, this way!" Wizardmon suddenly heard Impmon's voice cut through the chatter of the children. Then he caught a glimpse of his friend standing outside the throng, gesturing for him to head toward some trees. Feeling relieved, Wizardmon leaped high into the air, above all the children's heads, and landed next to Impmon, who had begun to dash into the cover of some bushes. They quickly scurried up a tree, hiding themselves in the branches._

_The group of children looked through the bushes for a minute or so, but soon grew tired of their search and continued the game they'd been playing. Wizardmon breathed a sigh of relief. "That was close."_

_"Eh, they weren't gonna hurt ya," Impmon said nonchalantly. "They were jus' kids."_

_"Better safe than sorry," Wizardmon muttered, glancing warily at a group of girls walking past their tree. "So where's this human you said we had to help?"_

_"She's meetin' us near da pond," Impmon replied, pointing out a small pond a few feet away from the cover of trees. And standing on the bank of this pond was a human girl, staring out at the water with a small smile on her face._

_Wizardmon couldn't say for sure, but to him, the sun seemed to be shining brightest on this girl. Either that, or she simply glowed on her own, which Wizardmon would have readily believed. She was like an angel gracing this world with her presence._

_Without any conscious decision to do so, Wizardmon hopped down from the tree, ignoring Impmon's protests. He then took a cautious step toward the girl, transfixed. He wasn't afraid, not like he'd been afraid of the children. Somehow he knew that this girl wouldn't hurt him. She was too…pure._

_Suddenly the girl turned, hearing a stick crack under Wizardmon's next step. She seemed slightly surprised to see him, but not confused like the children. In fact, she smiled brightly at him and crouched down to his eye level, then said in a sweet voice, "Hello! You must be Impmon's friend. My name is Seiko. It's nice to meet you!"_

—

"Wizardmon, look!" Impmon said suddenly, pointing out a spot on the not-so-distant horizon. Wizardmon looked and saw exactly what had surprised his companion. Slowly rising from the ground was a dust-colored tornado. It continued to rise and grow for about a minute, worrying Wizardmon a bit. Would it grow so large that it would start to suck everything up inside of it…?

Seconds after he thought this, some sort of dark, fiery blast penetrated the tornado, causing an explosion which dissipated the swirling cone of wind. Wizardmon squinted hard at the resulting dust cloud. He thought he'd seen something falling inside the cloud. Or someone…

"Wizardmon, da kids are comin'! We gotta hide!"

Once again, Wizardmon looked where Impmon was pointing and saw that, while he'd been concentrating on the slowly shrinking dust cloud, the Legendary Warriors had been running toward them from that very direction. Heeding Impmon's command, Wizardmon ducked behind a nearby rock, followed quickly by his imp-like companion.

Luckily, the Legendary Warriors hadn't noticed them and ran right past their hiding place without a second glance. Wizardmon was worried that Shino would have sensed his presence or something, but it looked like he was too distracted for that. He was just letting out a soft sigh of relief when that loud, crazy girl (Kira) said, "Geez, that crazy-ass Lady-whatever-mon really got me pumped for some reason. Hey Taki, I think we need some montage music to set the mood…"

As the Legendary Warrior's voice faded into the distance, Wizardmon and Impmon turned to stare at each other, understanding in both of their eyes. "Gatomon."

—

_Wizardmon fidgeted in his chair, trying and failing to make himself feel at ease. It wasn't that the chair was in any way uncomfortable; quite the contrary. It even had a cute little pink seat cushion on it…but that wasn't the problem. He was sitting at a stranger's table (however nice she seemed, she was still a stranger) in an entirely different world from his own. THAT was the problem._

_On the other hand, Impmon was completely at ease, sitting patiently in his own seat across the table. He was even humming something to himself, an innocent smile on his face._

_Wizardmon frowned. "What are we doing here, Impmon?"_

_Impmon tilted his head, confused by the question. "Whaddaya mean, what are we doin' here? We're helpin' Seiko."_

_"But why?" Wizardmon persisted, trying to keep his voice down. Seiko was still in the kitchen finding them some snacks, and he didn't want her to overhear their conversation. "Why did you bring me here? Why are we in this girl's house? She's just some random HUMAN girl. Why bother?"_

_Impmon shook his head slowly. "Oh, Wizardmon…do ya really not understand why I'm helpin' her?"_

_Wizardmon sighed heavily, recalling what had happened by the pond earlier. Luckily, no one had seen him, and Seiko had gotten both Digimon safely to her house. "I do understand, okay? I just don't know why you brought me here."_

_"Can ya honestly say ya've never wanted ta see da human world fer yerself?" Impmon said, chuckling. "Besides, yer da one dat's gotta help her."_

_Before Wizardmon could ask what that meant, Seiko stepped back into the room, arms full of snacks. "Sorry I took so long," she said, setting the food down on the table. "I wasn't really sure what kind of stuff Digimon eat, so I just grabbed some chips and bottles of water."_

_"You didn't need to get us anything," Wizardmon mumbled, eyes downcast. He still felt shy and unsure around Seiko._

_Seiko smiled in response. "It's no trouble, Wizardmon. After all, you and Impmon are both guests in my house. I need to be a courteous host!"_

_Wizardmon had to admit it; Seiko's presence did reassure him. But even after she'd opened the bag of chips and unscrewed the water bottles, he was reluctant to eat or drink anything. Impmon, however, dug right in._

_"Hey, there things are pretty good!" Impmon stated, stuffing another handful of chips into his mouth and washing them down with a quick gulp of water. "Man, whaddaya call dis stuff, Seiko?"_

_"Those would be Doritos," Seiko replied, smirking slightly. Then she turned to Wizardmon and her brow creased in concern. "Are you sure you don't want anything?"_

_"Well…" Wizardmon couldn't admit that he didn't trust the food Seiko had offered them. He wouldn't insult her like that. Besides, the chips didn't seem to be hurting Impmon. "I…I guess I could try one…"_

_Tentatively, Wizardmon reached out and grabbed a Dorito. Then, as far as the others could tell, he dropped it inside his cloak. Crunching, chewing sounds could be heard, and Wizardmon's eyes slowly widened. "These…these are good."_

_For the next few minutes, Wizardmon helped Impmon devour the bag of Doritos. Seiko sat at the head of the table and watched them, wondering how so much food could fit into such small bodies. It was an extra large bag of chips, after all. But it was eventually emptied, leaving only a plastic carcass. Seiko threw the bag out and returned to the table, and then the three got down to business._

_"So what exactly are we doing, Impmon?" Wizardmon asked, taking a big gulp from his water bottle._

_"Not we; you," Impmon stated, smirking. "I jus' found da portal and brought ya here. Da rest is up ta you."_

_"Okay, but what do I have to do?" Wizardmon pressed, beginning to get irritated by his friend's evasiveness. At the same time, though, he grew a bit concerned. What did he have to do to help this girl? What sort of trouble was she in?_

_"You don't have to do anything, Wizardmon," Seiko replied, startling Wizardmon slightly. He hadn't expected her to suddenly enter the conversation. "Sorry," she mumbled, noticing Wizardmon's apprehensiveness toward her. "But really, you didn't have to come here today. I won't force you into anything you don't want to do. I actually never asked for any help in the first place. It's silly, really! I just started talking with Impmon yesterday, and I mentioned something about Kouji and he…"_

_"Wait," Wizardmon interrupted, curious about something she'd said. "Who is Kouji?"_

_For some reason, Impmon started chuckling in response to this question. Blushing slightly, Seiko replied, "He's…important to me."_

_"Important, huh?" Wizardmon muttered thoughtfully, noticing Seiko's sudden embarrassment. Slowly, he managed to put two and two together. "Is Kouji your boyfriend?"_

_"Of course not!" Seiko stated quickly, causing Impmon to laugh even more. Puckering her lips, Seiko glared with irritation at the imp Digimon. "You know he's not!"_

_"He may not be, but ya wish he was, don't ya?" Impmon retorted, trying to stifle his chuckles. "It's kinda cute, really."_

_Seiko sighed, trying to suppress her embarrassment. "I did tell Impmon that I might…kind of…like Kouji a little."_

_"I see," Wizardmon said. Actually, he didn't see anything. Had Impmon brought him here to give this girl dating advice? How would he know anything about that? Impmon was more sociable than him. Why wasn't he helping her on his own?_

_"Yeah, she told me all about 'im," Impmon said, smiling slyly. "They met a year ago, and now she wants ta move their relationship ta da next level."_

_"Impmon," Seiko whined softly, hiding her face in her hands. "It's so embarrassing! I can't believe I told you!"_

_"Told him what?" Wizardmon asked, confused._

_Impmon glanced at Seiko, wanting her to answer. So she took a deep breath, turned toward Wizardmon and said, "I told him that I really want my first kiss…to be with Kouji."_

_Wizardmon wasn't exactly sure how to respond to that, so all that came out of his mouth was an "Oh."_

_"Yeah," Seiko mumbled, smiling as she stared at her lap. "He's a really nice person, even if he doesn't think so himself. I just…I want to let him know how I feel about him. And I kinda want the moment to be…special."_

_Wizardmon actually smirked, finding Seiko's bashfulness amusing. But really, it was sweet how she talked about this boy, this Kouji. She truly cared about him; the devotion was obvious from her tone of voice. It almost made Wizardmon envious of the guy. To get a sweet girl like Seiko, one who treated a first kiss as such a big event…Impmon was right about it being cute._

_"Dat's why Seiko needs yer help, Wizardmon," Impmon stated, bringing his friend's attention back to the present. _

_"And I'm supposed to…?" Wizardmon asked slowly, still not knowing what he was actually supposed to do for Seiko._

_"Let's jus' say it has ta do wit' da weather," Impmon replied, grinning mischievously._

_Instead of clarifying anything, this statement only confused Wizardmon even more. "Alright, enough beatin' round da bush," Impmon said, noticing the look his friend was giving him. "Yer a wizard Digimon, right?"_

_"Gee, I don't know. Is the word 'wizard' still in my name?" Wizardmon retorted._

_"Yeah, ha ha," Impmon muttered, rolling his eyes. "Bein' a wizard Digimon, ya know a lotta spells, and you can conjure up a lotta things. Things like fire, water, ice…"_

_"Get on with it!" Wizardmon shouted, finally lose his patience. "What do you want me to do for her?"_

_"Snow," Seiko said suddenly, diverting Wizardmon's attention from his friend. Smiling slightly, she continued, "It's just that…I have a pretty vivid imagination sometimes! I always imagined my first kiss taking place on a hill, one overlooking the entire city. And it would be at night, so that all the city lights would look like tiny fireflies from where we stood…and it would be snowing. Well, I'm going shopping with Kouji tonight, and it would be the perfect time to bring him up to the hill and…but the weather isn't cooperating with me. There's no snow on the horizon. Not for tonight, at least."_

_It took a few moments of pondering, but Wizardmon slowly realized what it was that Seiko needed from him. "You think I can make it snow?"_

_"It's okay if you can't!" Seiko said quickly, waving her hands frantically. "Impmon said he had a friend, you, that could help me, but you really don't have to. It's enough that you actually bothered to come in the first place. Hey, it's enough that I met two monsters from a parallel world…not that you're monsters, of course!"_

_"We are monsters, technically," Wizardmon said, holding up a hand to halt Seiko's babbling. Until this moment, he'd been scared and unsure in this new world. He didn't have Impmon's charisma. He didn't have Witchmon's overconfidence. All the newness and strangeness of this world frightened him. But Seiko didn't frighten him in the least. He truly wanted to help her, and he knew he could. It would take a simple ice spell, just a muted version of it. Technically, the spell was meant to be an attack spell, but he could make it work. And he would. For his first human friend._

_"So you just need the snow to fall over the two of you?" Wizardmon said slowly, smiling to himself. "I think I can handle that." _

—

Wizardmon practically flew from his hiding spot, eyes trained on the slowly shrinking dust cloud. He didn't care whether Impmon followed or not, though he knew he would. But that didn't matter anymore. All that mattered was that his sister was somewhere in that cloud of dust, injured and alone. But she'd probably already been scanned by the Legendary brats…

"I can't think like that," he muttered to himself, refusing to give up. Not until he'd found some solid proof that she was gone.

In what felt like no time at all, Wizardmon was surrounded by air that was still so thick with dust that he began to cough violently. He'd taken off at a sprint and, in his haste to regulate his breathing, he'd sucked in too much polluted air when he'd reached his destination. Between his fits of coughing, though, he saw a figure through the musty particles dancing and twisting in the air. It was small…it was white…it had a tail…

"Are ya okay, Wizardmon?" Impmon was suddenly at Wizardmon's side, looking concerned. But this was no time to be concerned about him.

"Gato…mon," Wizardmon managed to say between coughs, pointing toward the figure he'd seen. Impmon looked, squinting hard through the dust. Finally, he saw her. "Gatomon!"

Impmon rushed toward the small white heap of fur, momentarily forgetting Wizardmon in his haste. That was fine by Wizardmon. He'd rather Gatomon be taken care of than him. The dust was settling, making it easier to find clean air to breathe. It also made it easier for Wizardmon to witness the scene before him.

"Gatomon." Impmon repeated her name over and over, kneeling beside her as he gently lifted her limp body onto his lap. She was unconscious and, from the looks of it, badly injured. But, to Wizardmon's relief, her Fractal Code wasn't showing. That meant that she would heal physically. Still, was it possible to heal from what Ilsemon had done to her…?

"Gatomon, I…I'm so sorry," Impmon said softly, tears beading in his eyes as he stared at Gatomon. "I couldn't protect ya from her…I'm sorry!"

_What are you sorry for?_ Wizardmon thought, slowly walking toward his sister and former best friend. Impmon's face was buried in Gatomon's belly fur as silent sobs shook his body. He didn't notice Wizardmon's approach, nor did he realize that his friend was standing above him when he whispered, "Gatomon…I love ya."

_So he's still entertaining that notion?_ Wizardmon thought bitterly, smiling to himself. _Even after what I did to you, you still wouldn't give up on her? Impmon, you shouldn't be sorry for anything. _"I'm the one who…"

Wizardmon's statement trailed off when Gatomon's eyes suddenly snapped open. Impmon hadn't yet realized that Gatomon was awake, leaving her and her brother to stare silently at each other for several moments. No words were spoken, but in that time a whole conversation took place. Wizardmon knew what he had to do, what Gatomon wanted him to do.

"Impmon, you're getting me all wet," Gatomon said, turning her gaze toward Impmon. Hearing her voice, his head jerked up instantly.

"Gatomon…?" he muttered, eyes wide and shining with fresh tears.

"Hi," Gatomon replied, smiling slightly. "Thanks for finding me."

Impmon managed a faint smile. "No problem. Hey, I brought Wizardmon wit' me…"

"Argh!" Gatomon's anguished cry suddenly cut off Impmon's statement. To Impmon and Wizardmon's horror, her hands shot to the sides of her head as if she were suffering a severe headache. And she was. Only Ilsemon would never allow her to recover.

—

_"Impmon!" Wizardmon shouted, searching desperately for any sign of his friend. They'd gone through the same portal, so they should have arrived home at the same spot, right? But when they'd returned to the portal under the bush in that human park, it had been closing rapidly, barring them forever from their world. He'd told Impmon to hop through first, and then he'd gone through. But the portal may have been unstable when he'd entered it. It had to have been, or he wouldn't be alone in this strange, dark forest. Had Impmon at least made it safely through the portal, or was he lost as well?_

_Lost. Slowly, Wizardmon realized that he'd been separated from his friend through a portal spanning two different dimensions. He didn't know much about the specifics of these portals that sometimes appeared between his world and the human world, but what if he'd somehow been caught between the two dimensions? How would he find his way back to his home? Would he be lost in this forest forever?_

_Suddenly, he heard rustling coming from the bushes to his left. He turned and was surprised to see a pair of glowing red eyes staring back at him. "Stay back!" Wizardmon shouted, holding his wand out in front of him. He wasn't all that threatening, though, since his hands were shaking like crazy. Realizing he was much too freaked out to pose a threat to any creature he came across, he decided to run for it._

_After dodging through trees for what felt like hours, Wizardmon stopped to catch his breath. This forest seemed endless and, even more unsettling, perpetually cloaked in darkness. Not only this, but there were other beings in this forest, like the owner of those glowing red eyes he'd seen. And there were probably other creatures like that one, watching him…_

_Wizardmon sank to the ground, curling up with his knees tight against his chest. He was going to be stuck in this forest forever. He'd never see his family or friends again. What had he done to deserve this? He was a decent Digimon, right? He'd never caused trouble for anyone. In fact, this had all happened because of Impmon. He was the one who had taken Wizardmon to the portal. He was the one who had dragged him into that other world. He was the one who had taken him to meet Seiko…_

_Wizardmon had to smile, remembering his kindly human friend. He didn't regret helping her, not one bit. Sitting in this dismal forest, he reminisced about what had happened just a few short hours ago. Seiko and Impmon had worked out a plan while he'd practiced his snow conjuring. He'd hidden in one of the trees atop Seiko's hill. He'd waited for her to lead Kouji to the very top. Then…it had worked out perfectly. Kouji had been surprised and, as Seiko had predicted, cynical about the origin of the snow, but once her lips had met his, it hadn't mattered._

_"It was worth it," Wizardmon muttered to himself, feeling his confidence rising. It didn't matter that he was now stuck in this godforsaken forest. He had helped Seiko, and that was all that mattered. Rising to his feet, he glared into the depths of the trees surrounding him, hands balling into fists. "Bring it on, you stupid forest! It was all worth it!"_

_"Indeed it was."_

_Wizardmon flinched, hearing another voice coming from the trees. He turned left and right, searching frantically for the source of the voice. He saw no one, but that didn't mean much. It would be simple for any creature to conceal itself in the dark depths of this forest. He'd just have to stay on his guard._

_Still…the voice hadn't sounded hostile exactly. More like it was…taunting him. "Who are you?" Wizardmon asked, grabbing his wand from underneath his cloak._

_The mystery creature chuckled, leaving goose bumps up and down Wizardmon's arms. "Put your wand away, dear Wizardmon. We wouldn't want anyone to get hurt, would we?"_

_"That depends," Wizardmon growled, trying very hard to sound threatening. "What do you want with me? And for the record, where the hell are we?"_

_"I want nothing but to talk, dear," the voice spoke in a sickly sweet tone, a tone that told Wizardmon she was definitely suspicious. Still, whatever this thing was, it wasn't attacking him. That gave him enough reason to trust it for now. "As to your question concerning our location, we are both standing deep within the Dark Continent of the Digital World."_

_"This is a part of the Digital World?" Wizardmon asked slowly, taking a closer look at his surroundings. He'd never heard of anything called a "Dark Continent" in his world, but he had to admit that he was a bit sheltered. He'd never traveled farther outside his own forest than was necessary to acquire food or other supplies. He'd also never formally attended a school, so he knew next to nothing about Digital World geography. But was it possible that he'd been in his own world this whole time without realizing it? "Does that mean that you're a Digimon, too?"_

_"It does," the voice replied. "By the way, for future reference, I am not an 'it,' I am a 'she.'"_

_This comment confused Wizardmon. He'd only been calling this disembodied voice an 'it' in his thoughts. He hadn't called her an 'it' out loud, so how had she known…?_

_"You'll find that I know many things about you, dear Wizardmon," the voice said, answering his unspoken question. "For instance, I know all about what you did for that human girl. Quite the love doctor you've turned out to be!"_

_"What are you, a mind-reader?" Wizardmon asked cautiously, for that was a strong possibility. He'd never met a psychic Digimon face-to-face, but he'd heard enough stories to know they existed. And that their powers made them dangerous foes. _

_A slight breeze stirred the leaves of the trees as his faceless companion chuckled, almost as if she'd summoned it with her voice. "'Mind-reader' would be an apt term to describe someone such as myself, I suppose," she mused. "Each mind holds a different story, and I have the ability to read it, skimming through the memories like pages in a book…but that is beside the point. Actually, I was just strolling through the forest today and happened to pick up on your thoughts. You're quite lost, are you not?"_

_"Do I look like a local to you?" Wizardmon said sarcastically, gripping his wand tightly._

_"Oh my, it seems that you don't yet trust me," the voice commented, sounding hurt. "And all I wanted to do was give you my congratulations on a job well done. You made that girl's wish come true, and I respect that."_

_Despite his unease, this explanation did calm Wizardmon's fears. Witchmon always laughed at him for being so suspicious of everything, and he had to admit that maybe he WAS a bit paranoid at times. Sure, this Digimon hadn't yet shown her face, but it didn't seem like there were a lot of other "overly friendly" Digimon in this forest. Maybe she was just skittish. And she seemed pretty sincere…_

_"Yes…it's too bad, though, that Seiko is going to die."_

_Strangely, Wizardmon's paranoia didn't return when his mysterious companion said this, though it seemed like a suspicious thing for her to just blurt out. Instead, he was surprised and a bit confused. "What are you talking about?" he asked, adding to himself, _Who in the world would dare hurt her?

_"She is a charming young thing. Reminds me a bit of my sister," the Digimon's voice muttered just loud enough for Wizardmon to catch. It was obvious from her tone that she wasn't particularly pleased by Seiko's similarity to her sister. Wizardmon couldn't ask about this because a moment later, the voice continued, "But I don't mean to say that anyone would intentionally harm her. Rather, she keeps some very…dangerous company."_

_"You don't mean…" Wizardmon began to say it, but couldn't quite get the words out. Could it really be that…?_

_"Kouji is the one to blame," the Digimon's voice spoke from among the trees. "He will cause Seiko great, possibly fatal, harm in the future."_

_Wizardmon conjured up an image of Seiko's crush from earlier that night in his mind. He'd seemed to have a rather cynical, bitter nature about him, the polar opposite of Seiko's natural happiness and optimism. Opposites must really attract for fate to have put the two of them together as a pair, but they did care for each other. Of course, Seiko had already confessed her feelings for Kouji, but Wizardmon had been able to tell that the boy cared deeply for her as well. The affection had been clear in his eyes. He'd never let any harm come to Seiko if he could help it. _

_"No, not if he could help it. But it's too late for him to change things," the voice said with finality. "The affliction is in his blood, in his very nature. He'll have no choice in the matter once the war begins…"_

_"What war?" Now Wizardmon was extremely confused. "What the hell are you talking about?"_

_The silence that followed this question was so ominous that Wizardmon was practically trembling with tension by the time the voice replied, "You do know the tale of the ten Legendary Warriors, do you not?"_

_"Of course I do." This, at least, Wizardmon knew all about. It was a common story told to young In-Training Digimon. "What about it?"_

_"Then I'm sure you've been told of the special circumstances surrounding their deaths? About their noble sacrifice in imprisoning the evil Lucemon and their transformation into mere spirits?" Wizardmon nodded, growing impatient. "Now think for a moment. Why would the last bits of their data be reconfigured into that form? Why didn't they just disappear, as any other Digimon would?"_

_"They're legendary," Wizardmon replied without much thought. What was this Digimon getting at?_

_The mysterious Digimon chuckled at his response. "Of course, that would be anyone's first answer! But they weren't always legendary, were they? No, they only gained that title after defeating Lucemon. Still, they were apparently important enough to be granted immortality, however partial that immortality may be._

_"But they can do nothing except sit in hiding, practically buried alive by their keepers, the three Celestial Digimon," the voice continued, her words pounding in Wizardmon's skull. "Why would these mighty warriors have been given a second chance at all if they lack the ability to do anything but stand by and watch events play out before them? Surely there must be a way for them to restore their strength and power, to fight the evil that always seems to rise without fail. And luckily for them, they have thought of a solution to this problem. It is a very close-kept secret, but as Seiko's friend, you should know that the boy she has fallen in love with is one of ten human catalysts for the Legendary Warriors."_

_"A catalyst?" Wizardmon asked slowly, struggling just to form the words. Only in the pause in his companion's monologue did he realize that he was feeling a bit dazed. The world around him was blurring as if he were about to pass out. It seemed the only thing tethering him to reality was her voice…_

_"Well, 'catalyst' isn't exactly the correct term to describe them," the other Digimon admitted. "I can't say that I know all of the specifics of this process, but as I understand it, these chosen children, including Seiko's beloved Kouji, will in essence become the Legendary Warriors."_

_"But…they're humans," Wizardmon said, feeling slightly confused. "How can they…?"_

_"It is a mystery to me as well, but I believe it to be very possible," the voice replied, sounding sure. "Now, what do you suppose would happen to anyone associated with these children once they have stepped into their positions as Warriors? Think; every dissenting Digimon out there would aim to harm the Warriors' loved ones in order to cripple them. They'd go after their family, their friends. Of course, Seiko would also be a target, all because of that Kouji boy."_

She's lying!_ The rational part of Wizardmon's mind was screaming its protest, trying to be heard over the haze that had formed in his mind. What she was saying was completely impossible. Humans couldn't become Digimon. That was ridiculous! Digimon and humans were two completely separate beings. _

_Still, if all of this was true, then Seiko really would be put in danger. And who was he to argue the story this Digimon told? It wasn't as if he were any more knowledgeable about the workings of his world. He'd been completely sheltered all his life, hidden away in his forest home. If anything, this Digimon had helped him. She had opened his eyes to something he'd never even considered. Why would the Legendary Warriors have been preserved in a half-dead state all this time if they couldn't do anything to protect the world they'd sworn themselves to? Though his companion's answer to this question was a bit far-fetched, it had some truth to it._

_All of this circled back to Seiko's safety and welfare. If Kouji was one of these so-called "catalysts," and if he were to be dragged into the Digital World's future conflicts by his inescapable destiny, then Seiko would inevitably be dragged in with him. She already knew about Digimon thanks to him and Impmon. Knowing her, she'd want to help in any way she could. But the more she tried to help, the more exposed she'd become until one day, when no one was watching, when not even Kouji was guarding her from danger, some deranged Digimon would sneak up behind her, claws raised, thirsting for blood and data…_

_Wizardmon shuddered at this thought. He'd never let that happen to Seiko. She was good and pure, undeserving of that cruel demise. But if she became more involved with the Digital World than she already was, Wizardmon was fully convinced that this would be her fate. There had to be a way to stop it. But how? "What should I do?" Wizardmon asked softly, peering through the trees, searching for his shadowy companion, seeking any counsel she could give. Finally he caught a glimpse of something within the forest, a tall and slender figure…_

_Her voice cut through the trees and bombarded Wizardmon's mind with the force of a wrecking ball, blocking his concentration. "Isn't it obvious? The only sure way to protect Seiko is to kill Kouji."_

—

"Hang on, Gatomon!" Impmon said, laying her gently on the ground. She barely noticed the movement, her head throbbing with merciless pain. "Okay…alright…" Impmon kept muttered these things to himself, trying and failing to remain calm as he stared down at Gatomon. His eyes were wide and red-rimmed from crying, and he was shaking so hard that he had to press his palms firmly against the ground to steady his vision. After all this, Impmon hated that all he could do now was watch Gatomon suffer.

Wizardmon, however, was calm. Now, without a doubt, he knew what he had to do. What Gatomon wanted him to do. In fact, he was the only one left who would give her the help she desired. Impmon would only get in the way. _He's too blinded by love…for my sister._

With this bittersweet thought in mind, Wizardmon raised his wand, eyes trained on the back of his former friend's head.

_Sorry Impmon,_ he thought sadly. _She's too far gone._ Then he struck.

—

_Almost two months later, Wizardmon was crouched upon the rooftop of a tall building, gazing down at the busy city street below. Though this was only his second trip to the human world, he was mostly disinterested in what he saw. Instead, his attention was focused on two humans milling through the crowd that clogged the sidewalk, probably seeking refuge in a more secluded area. _

Perfect,_ Wizardmon thought, wand held at the ready. It had taken him several weeks to build up his resolve, but now he was completely focused on his task. He knew what he had to do. It was just like that Digimon had said. Kouji needed to die._

_After his fateful conversation with her, his newfound friend (she'd never mentioned her name) had explained to him that he'd landed in the middle of a dark area of the Digital World, appropriately named the Dark Continent. She'd kindly led him to the edge of the territory, keeping to the shadows as she did so, and pointed out the tall gate that marked the entrance to her home. Mere hours before, Wizardmon would have been happy to see the sun shining onto the land just outside the abysmal forest and to know that, contrary to what he'd believed, he could finally return to his own home. But knowing what he now knew, he could never go back to his old life of naivety. Not with the murder he knew he'd someday have to commit._

_He'd walked slowly forward until he'd stood with his toes barely touching the border between light and dark. Pausing, he'd turned and asked, "How will I get back to the human world without a portal?"_

_Her voice had drifted back to him in reply, "Don't concern yourself with the minor details. When you have decided what you are going to do, come back to this place. I will find you a portal. The rest will be up to you."_

_Wizardmon had done as she'd instructed, returning to the ominous gate leading into the Dark Continent some weeks later. He hadn't hesitated to step through the gate this time. He just continued to walk, ignoring the fact that he was walking straight into a dark abyss, never to return. In a way, this moment had been sad, especially since he hadn't said goodbye to his friends or his sisters. But no matter how he felt about leaving them, he was determined to end his life in the human world._

_These thoughts drifted in and out of Wizardmon's mind, threatening to cloud his focus. He shook his head, concentrating on the task at hand. First he had to kill Kouji; he could worry about what would come afterward when it came, though it was hard to imagine a very bloody death at the hands of someone like Seiko. All he knew was that after he committed his crime, he would turn himself over to her and let her have her retribution. Then maybe she'd be able to move on._

I wonder where they're going,_ Wizardmon wondered absently, eyes trained on the couple. From his perch, he could see that Seiko had taken Kouji's hand in hers and was currently dragging him through the crowd, probably impatient with their slow pace. Kouji, for his part, was diligently trying to keep up with Seiko, a faint blush on his cheeks as he stared at their joined hands._

_The innocence on both their faces was enough to make anyone give up this insane mission and just walk away, but Wizardmon didn't have that luxury. The things he'd learned about the Legendary Warriors and Kouji's involvement with them had preyed on his mind for almost two months. He didn't want to kill this human boy, not really. It was sad, even pitiful to think that he was going to die without even knowing why it was happening. But perhaps someday, in the afterlife, Kouji would be able to forgive Wizardmon when he realized what would surely have happened had he lived through this day. After all, he cared about Seiko too, right? He would understand, wouldn't he?_

_Wizardmon crept around the corner of the building's roof, following the two young humans as they continued down the sidewalk. Eventually, though, he ran out of roof, forcing him to leap atop the next building in the row. Luckily, these structures were built fairly close together, in typical human fashion, and Wizardmon could easily bridge the gap between the roofs in a single bound. _

_However, when he landed, he found someone waiting for him. _Oh no…

"_Wizardmon!" Impmon exclaimed happily, turning when he heard the thump Wizardmon's landing had made. It seemed he'd been searching behind one of the many metal things sticking up out of the building, looking for something. From his reaction, Wizardmon could easily guess what or, more accurately, who he'd been searching for._

_Wizardmon stood still and silent as Impmon rushed up to him and wrapped him in a tight hug. "I finally found ya," he stated, sighing with relief. "I, no, we've been lookin' fer ya fer weeks. Listen, I'm so sorry about what happened. When ya didn't show up through da portal behind me, I thought maybe ya hadn't been able ta get through and dat you were stuck here, and I was right! I knew ya'd be okay, wit' Seiko around and all, but Gatomon and Witchmon were really worried about ya. So I've been searchin' fer another human world portal, and today I finally found one! C'mon, let's get back ta our world quick before da portal closes again and…"_

_"I'm not going with you," Wizardmon said, finally speaking up. To further emphasize his point, he shoved Impmon away and took several steps back, standing firm and resolute._

_Impmon cocked his head in confusion. "Quit kiddin' around, Wizardmon. Whaddaya mean, yer not comin' back wit' me?"_

_"I meant what I said. I'm staying here," Wizardmon replied flatly, raising his wand. "Now leave, or I'll make you leave."_

_"Wizardmon," Impmon muttered, eyes fixed on the wand aimed threateningly at him. "What's goin' on? Is dis because yer mad at me? 'Cuz I got ya stuck in dis world? Wizardmon, I am so sorry about all dis…"_

_"That's not it," Wizardmon interrupted quickly, lowering his gaze. _

_"Then why?" Impmon asked, truly curious to know what was going through Wizardmon's head._

_The problem was, Wizardmon wasn't sure how to explain it himself. Why was he so determined to end that human boy's life? For Seiko's sake? Heck, there was a big chance that nothing would happen to her, that Kouji would be able to keep her safe, even if she insisted on getting involved with the Digital World. There was no way to be sure, but was murder really the right way to solve this? He could just as easily reveal himself to Kouji, explain the situation, and make sure they were both prepared for…_

_-Kill him…_

_Wizardmon's doubt instantly dissolved. "I have to do this," he stated, eyes cold and merciless as he glared at his friend. _Heh, friend?_ he thought, staring Impmon down. _He's only getting in my way.

_"Whaddaya have ta do, Wizardmon?" Impmon shouted, growing frustrated. "I don't understand what yer sayin'! What da heck is goin' on?"_

_"You wouldn't understand," Wizardmon growled softly, growing angrier and angrier as he continued. "You've always been so soft, Impmon. You would never have it in you to do what I'm about to do. You wouldn't even understand it! But I understand perfectly. That boy is nothing more than the Digital World's tool, following in the footsteps of the Warriors before him! It's sad that he should have to die so young for a cause he hasn't even been made aware of, but it has to be done! Kouji has to die! There's no other way to ensure Seiko's safety!"_

_"What are ya talkin' about?" Impmon exclaimed. "What da they have ta do wit' anythin'? Their jus' humans!"_

_"I'm trying to tell you that Kouji is not just a human!" Wizardmon shouted, trembling with rage. "Seiko is a human, but he is something else entirely. If we let things continue like this, he'll be the death of her!"_

_Impmon was silent for a moment, glancing over the edge of the roof at the sidewalk below. Wizardmon looked too and saw that Kouji and Seiko were still there, standing at a crosswalk. As they watched, they saw Kouji lean down and whisper something in Seiko's ear, something that made her blush._

_Wizardmon turned away quickly, a gesture that Impmon took note of. Glancing between his friend and the two humans below, Impmon came to a conclusion. "Wizardmon…ya can't be everyone's big brother."_

_That statement took Wizardmon by surprise. It was completely off the mark, of course. He'd turned away because he felt guilty that he'd have to ruin Seiko's happiness…but was that all? Perhaps Impmon was on to something._

_He had always been the overprotective big brother figure for his sisters, though Witchmon wouldn't stand for his overbearing nature most of the time. He just couldn't help himself. His sisters meant everything to him, and he couldn't stand the thought of them getting hurt…or of someone taking them away from him._

_Wizardmon realized then that he'd subconsciously counted Seiko as one of his "sisters." A sweet young girl like her needed protection, and he'd been protecting people all his life. It had been so natural to assume the big brother position…and everything that came with it. Was that it? Was that why he wanted to kill Kouji? Not because he thought Seiko would get hurt, but because Kouji would defile her in other ways…_

_Just like Gatomon. Just like what Impmon had confessed to him a few short months ago. He could still conjure up the words in his mind. "Wizardmon, I think I'm in love wit' Gatomon."_

_Wizardmon's vision blurred. "Stay away from her, you bastard!" Almost against his will, Wizardmon shot a ball of fire from his wand, the wand that had been aimed at Impmon all this time. The sudden attack surprised the imp Digimon, and in his haste to dodge the fireball, he forgot how close he stood to the edge of the roof…_

_"Impmon!" Wizardmon cried his friend's name, rushing forward to try to catch Impmon before he…but his hand closed around nothing but air. He could only watch, wide-eyed, as Impmon flew through the open air in a small arc, propelled by the part of Wizardmon's attack that had made contact with his body. Finally, Impmon began his descent, dropping like a felled bird toward the busy city street. He never made it to the pavement, though. Instead, he dropped right onto the windshield of a passing truck, bouncing off the glass and landing on the opposite sidewalk._

_But the truck driver had apparently been startled, for the truck suddenly sped forward, ignoring the crosswalk in front of it. Wizardmon ran to the other side of the roof, straining to see if Seiko and Kouji had already crossed…_

—

Impmon fell with a thump to the ground, knocked unconscious from behind by a large wand. Wizardmon slowly lowered his weapon, staring at the poor, pathetic Digimon who'd once been his friend. "Go ahead and rest, Impmon," he muttered softly. "You've done enough."

His first task complete, he stepped around his fallen companion, focusing his attention on his sister. She still writhed in pain, but she had enough presence of mind left to sense that he was staring at her. "Wizard…mon," she managed to say through clenched teeth, opening one eye onto her brother's face.

"Gatomon," Wizardmon said in reply, holding his wand out in front of him, pointing it straight at her small, vulnerable little body. "I'm sorry."

Despite the agonizing pain she was in, a look of peace came over Gatomon's features. She even smiled as she said, "I love you, too."

Wizardmon squeezed his eyes shut as he spoke the deadly words. "Electro Squall."

—

_Wizardmon sat on the top tier of the newly reconstructed Rose Morning Star, waiting for Ilsemon to meet him. As he gazed out the window-like opening at the constantly dark scenery, he wondered how everything in his life had gone so wrong so quickly._

_He could try to blame Impmon. After all, he'd been the one who'd led Wizardmon through the portal to the human world in the first place. But Impmon's intentions had been good, and look what he'd gotten for it. Hit by a truck, probably dead or dying back in the human world._

_He could certainly blame Ilsemon. She'd been the "mysterious Digimon" that had told Wizardmon who Kouji really was, twisting his mind with senseless hate for the boy. But that was just what Ilsemon did. She manipulated others in order to get what she wanted. He'd never had to listen to her, but he did._

_When it all came down to it, everything that had happened to him in the past few months had been his fault. He had tried to murder Kouji. He had caused Impmon to hit that truck. He had killed Seiko._

_Instantly, Wizardmon flinched. Even after two months, thinking Seiko's name still caused him pain. But it was a pain he freely accepted, because he knew that he deserved it. He was nothing but a murderer and a traitor, and once he'd found his way back to the Digital World, he'd gone straight to the Dark Continent, knowing that this dark place was where he belonged._

_Ilsemon had found him lying under a tree in the forest, practically begging for death to come. But death would have been a blessing, and he knew he didn't deserve that much. That was the reason he'd agreed to become Ilsemon's servant. Because, right to his very core, he was a monster._

_"Digital monsters," Wizardmon muttered the full name of his race to himself. "The only monster I can see here is me."_

_"Good day, Wizardmon." Ilsemon, in her normal sneaky fashion, suddenly appeared behind Wizardmon, towering above him even when he rose and stood before her. _

_"Milady," he greeted her stiffly, bowing his head. _

_Ilsemon smirked. "It seems you've learned to properly greet your master. I'm glad that all the punishment I've had to give you is finally sinking in."_

_Wizardmon remained still and silent, knowing that Ilsemon would gain too much pleasure from a flinch brought on by the memory of his torture. He'd learned by now to harden himself inside and out. That was the only way to survive in Ilsemon's servitude. By becoming hollow._

_Ilsemon continued when Wizardmon didn't reply, "Now, on to business. Has Cherubimon been behaving properly?"_

_"Cherubimon has been sending out his team of Warriors to gather data, just as you requested," Wizardmon reported mechanically. After a pause, he added, "As to the matter of the fifth spirit in his possession, he still hasn't been able to find a worthy Digimon to bond with it. Every being that tries to bond with that thing is consumed by it."_

_"I see," Ilsemon muttered, not sounding all that troubled by the news. "I expected that would be the case, especially for this particular spirit. Still, it would probably be easier to find a suitable host had Cherubimon not 'altered' the spirit beyond what would have been necessary to corrupt it. It was simple enough to find hosts for the other four Legendary Warriors."_

They are not the Legendary Warriors,_ Wizardmon thought, reminded of his many observations of Cherubimon's most loyal servants. _They are nothing but Cherubimon's puppets. _Glancing at Ilsemon, he added, _Though I suppose Cherubimon is a puppet himself.

_"It is no matter, I suppose," Ilsemon said, waving off her concern. "I have a feeling that the answer to this problem will present itself in time."_

Meaning you plan to kidnap the human catalyst of darkness and use him to your own benefit, _Wizardmon thought, finding it funny how predictable Ilsemon could be._

_However, he never saw Ilsemon's next move coming. "Oh, by the way, I wanted to introduce you to my two newest servants," she announced, stepping to the side to reveal…_

_Wizardmon couldn't help but to gasp in shock. Standing before him, her head, ears, and tail drooped in apparent shame, was Gatomon. Next to his sister stood Impmon, though "stood" was a loose term for what he was doing. He was actually leaning heavily on Gatomon just to remain upright, his arm draped over her small shoulders. Unlike Gatomon, Impmon's gaze was fixed on Wizardmon, a determined look in his eyes._

_Wizardmon didn't know how to react, so Ilsemon broke the silence by saying, "Wizardmon, I'd like you to meet Impmon and Gatomon."_

—

"Argh!" Wizardmon dropped to his knees, shot through with a sudden searing pain. He didn't know how long he laid on the ground, curled into a little ball of agony, only that the pain ceased as suddenly as it had come. Well, not ceased entirely. There was still a dull throbbing at his temples, but it was bearable. The real problem was to find the source of the pain.

He examined himself for a moment and concluded that he hadn't been stabbed or shot through by some random Digimon's weapon. It hadn't really been a physical pain, anyway. It had felt more like a migraine than anything else.

That was when Wizardmon remembered. _Gatomon._ Slowly, he lowered his gaze, searching for his sister's remains. He found it sitting at his feet, small and fragile-looking with blue circles dotting the shell. Gatomon's Digi-egg.

Wizardmon reached down and gingerly picked the egg up, then cradled it in his arms like a baby. "It's okay, Gatomon. You're okay now," he muttered shakily, tears forming in his eyes. He hadn't cried in so long that the feeling of water running down his cheeks and soaking into his cloak was a bit disorienting at first, but he quickly got the hang of it again. A sob or two even broke from his chest.

He wasn't sure if he'd ever stop crying once he'd started, but another strange mental pang momentarily shook him from his grief. It wasn't exactly a pang of pain this time. It just felt…odd. Like something was growing inside him, threatening to burst out at any time. But he felt that he had to keep it contained, that if he didn't, he'd lose control and be drained like a battery…

Wizardmon realized where these strange feelings were coming from just as a giant column of fire rose up from the other side of the RMS, reaching its fiery tendrils toward the dark sky. "Comrade…"

—

_madjack89:_ And there you have it! That's what happened to Wizardmon!

_Impmon:_ Ga…Gatomon…?

_Wizardmon:_ …

_madjack89:_ Heh, sorry guys. And sorry to a large majority of readers out there who wanted Gatomon to live! In all honesty, I've been planning Gatomon's death from the beginning.

_Wizardmon: *turns slowly toward me*_ You what?

_madjack89:_ Yeah, I was going to kill her off earlier than this, but I thought it would fit the battle mood more if we had at least one important character death. So that's that!

_Wizardmon:_ …Excuse me while I go bang my head against a wall. Repeatedly.

_madjack89:_ Have fun! Any final thoughts, Impy?

_Impmon: *shakes head*_

_madjack89:_ Okie-doke! See ya next chapter, everybody!


	40. Ch 40: Burn

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 40: Burn**

_madjack89:_ Hey everyone! Happy chapter 40!

_Dai:_ Woohoo!

_Kira:_ Yeah, 40 chapters! So, can we get back to the story already?

_madjack89:_ Patience is a virtue, Kira.

_Kira:_ So? I don't even know what the hell a virtue is.

_madjack89: *sigh* _Besides, you may not be so excited about what happens to Takuya in this chapter... _*glances at Takuya*_

_Takuya:_ _*mutters to Kouji* _She's looking at me again.

_Kouji:_ Just ignore her.

_madjack89:_ By the way, Kouji, I noticed something the other day.

_Kouji:_ What?

_madjack89:_ You seem to have a habit of putting your hands in your pockets.

_Kouji: *glances at pocketed hands*_ Huh, I guess I do.

_Shino:_ You can be cool without even trying, can't you?

_Kouji: *shrugs in a very cool way*_

_Shino: *sigh*_

_madjack89:_ You know, I actually like putting my hands in my pockets, too. It's a little harder with my pants, though. Guys have bigger pockets than girls.

_JP:_ That's because girls have purses to keep stuff in. We've just got our pockets.

_Takuya:_ Oh, that's why you have that janitor outfit thing! For the convenience of its pockets!

_JP:_ Actually, it's because of the character designers for Digimon Frontier, but sure, why not?

_Zoe:_ Or maybe JP just wants to be a janitor when he grows up.

_Kouji:_ A magical, chocolate-loving janitor.

_JP: *glares*_

_madjack89:_ Okay, enough of my random observations of anime characters and their habits. Review time!

_*break*_

_Taeniaea:_ Thank you! :)

_garnettfox:_ (_Wizardmon:_ And the huggling begins…) Eh, I kinda feel the same way. I liked having Gatomon around, but it's better this way. Thanks for reviewing!

_Aldamonburst:_ If you are a writer, there is a good chance that you are a bit twisted or quirky. It's a fact of life. *_shrugs*_ Yeah, go Donald! She is kind of slutty! (lols) Hope you did good on your first exam, and thanks for reviewing!

_silver fire wolf:_ Kokoro is right, guys. Gato-chan will be back! Just remember to take good care of her egg! Then you can have a weird father-brother-friend relationship with her! (_Wizardmon and Impmon:_ -_-) Thanks for reviewing, guys!

_Immortal Fallen Radiance:_ Thanks! I'm glad you think so! :)

_reirukuro-x:_ Sorry, I just had to get the Wizardmon story out of the way before we got back to the main plot. But don't worry, there's plenty of Taki in this chapter, so it's all good! Thanks for reviewing!

_Dawn of Glory:_ If you think that's jaw-dropping, keep reading…

_fg1fg:_ The secret wasn't really that it was Seiko, but rather what really caused Seiko's death. Yup, that was my plan all along, cuz I'm sneaky like that! ;) They remind you of Tsubasa, too? Geez, I unconsciously base too much of this stuff on things I read and watch…anyway, I have to plan deaths! They're like key moments! Thanks for reviewing!

_13wolfsbane:_ (_Wizardmon:_ And so the pity continues…) You could try to graciously accept their pity. (_Wizardmon:_ Yeah, I could.) Well, anyway, sorry 'bout that headache, and I hope this sad chapter didn't cause it, cuz then I'd be sad! Thanks for reviewing, girls!

_GoldenDragon326:_ Exactly! Hooray for Digi-eggs! :) Then again, she won't have any memories from her previous life, so it's kinda like this "Gatomon" died…but whatever! Thanks for reviewing!

_cherrrysakura:_ I kinda already answered your reviews, but I'll just say thank you again for reviewing!

_emzy:_ Wow, one day? I'm glad you liked it that much! Thank you!

_TobiGB:_ Gee Sephy, I think your head would explode if that ego got any larger. (_Wizardmon: *takes bite of brownie*_ How does this help with our loss?) Comfort food, duh! (_Impmon:_ Y'know, Gatomon liked brownies…) (_Wizardmon:_ …I have to go.) Gonna go cry in your emo corner? (_Wizardmon: _…Maybe.) Anyway, thanks for reviewing, GB!

_*break*_

_madjack89:_ And now it is time for chapter 40! What will become of Takuya? Will Ilsemon finally be defeated, or is this the end of the Legendary Warriors?

_Takuya:_ Will Madjack ever stop taunting us with rhetorical questions and just start the chapter already?

_madjack89:_ Find out on the next Digimon: Digital Monsters! ;)

_Everyone: *sigh*_

—

_It's weird, y'know? One day you're just living your normal old life, the next you're running around beating up evil and/or psychotic Digimon in some parallel world. I don't know about the others, but I sure didn't see that one coming._

_Not to mention the coolest part of all; we were chosen for this. Hand-picked out of billions and billions of other more worthy human candidates. Ten random kids brought together by the hand of fate, then told to defend the world from monsters. For once in all our lives, we were considered special. Important. Needed. At least, that's the impression I started to get._

_I'm not saying I feel all superior to other human beings. I don't think we're better than anyone else just because we can transform into monsters at will. If anything, that makes us a bunch of freaks._

_Still, I always considered us to be kind of…unique. We've taken some serious beatings from Digimon that could have easily killed a whole crowd of unsuspecting humans. With our spirits, we can overcome any odds. We're just humans, but we are chosen humans. Special. Unique. Invincible._

_I guess we all thought that, at one point or another…_

—

"Well, that was fun," Witchmon muttered, staring out at a sea of Digi-eggs from her perch atop her broom. "I think my final total was 47."

Dragramon flapped her wings, keeping herself aloft beside her friend as they surveyed the carnage. She smiled half-heartedly as she said, "I got 50. Guess that means I win."

"Looks like it," Witchmon replied. "You get the bragging rights."

"I sure do, Hermione," Dragramon said, grinning.

"A Harry Potter reference?" Witchmon said, staring flatly at her friend. "C'mon, Dragra, you can do better than that."

"I'll come up with a good one, just you wait," Dragramon grumbled, pondering a more demeaning nickname.

"Guys, get down here!" Gotsumon's shout suddenly met the female Digimons' ears, and they quickly descended to find out what their leader wanted. To Dragramon's amusement, Witchmon practically dive-bombed the ground to get to her crush first. Luckily, she managed to slow herself down before crashing into the hard earth.

"Witchmon and Dragramon are present and accounted for!" Witchmon stated, mockingly saluting Gotsumon as Dragramon joined the two.

The rock Digimon sighed. "You really could stand to show me a little genuine respect, guys."

Witchmon was instantly crestfallen. "But I was just kidding!" she shouted, frantically waving her arms. "I didn't mean to insult your authority! I'm sorry!"

"It's fine, Witchmon," Gotsumon replied, raising his hand for her to stop. "I was kidding too. Your antics are actually kind of funny."

"R-really?" Witchmon muttered, hope rising in her. _Does that mean…?_

"You two are almost like a couple of clowns." And with that, Gotsumon shot yet another arrow through Witchmon's arrow-riddled heart.

While she spent a moment silently sulking, Dragramon took up the conversation for her. "So what's up, Gotsumon?"

"We've got an approximate death toll for the battle," Gotsumon said solemnly. "We suffered some fairly heavy casualties, but Ilsemon suffered worse. Though I'm not sure how much losing these subordinates will affect her plans in the long run."

"It must have done something," Dragramon muttered, trying not to stare as the surviving Digimon started loading up on their comrades Digi-eggs for the return trip to the base. "This bloodshed couldn't have been for nothing."

"The success or failure of this war never really fell on our shoulders, anyway," Witchmon said, staring at a point on the horizon. "Whether our side wins or loses depends on those kids."

"Exactly," Gotsumon agreed. "And that's why we're going to give them some back-up."

Witchmon raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Do you really think they're gonna let us help them?"

"Do you think I give a damn what they think?" Gotsumon retorted. "They have to remember that this is OUR world, and when it all comes down to it, WE need to be the ones that fix things here. We can't just call in a bunch of human kids to help us every time we have a problem. (Ha!) Besides, I've wanted to kick Ilsemon's ass for a long time."

"I hear that!" Dragramon replied enthusiastically. "Let's go take that psycho down!"

However, just as the three were preparing to head back toward the RMS, a giant fiery column sprung up from that direction, reaching into the sky until it was swallowed by the suddenly dark, sinister-looking clouds. The Digimon stared at the fire for a moment, stunned silent by the massive surge of power, the source of which they could all easily guess.

Behind them, a Gomamon muttered, "Son of a bitchmon…"

—

_What if he doesn't come back?_

Masumon thought this for about the fiftieth time, practically worrying herself to death. After awhile, she could no longer stand being cooped up in those oppressive tunnels, so she'd climbed to the surface to wait for the others, promising Swanmon that she wouldn't do anything reckless. But it was so hard not to be reckless when every friend and relation she'd ever had was out fighting, possibly never to return. Especially Kouji…

"Stop thinking about him!" she said to herself, shaking her head vigorously. But as much as she tried, she couldn't get the human boy's face out of her mind.

Why was she so obsessed with his well-being? Yes, she was also worried about the other children, particularly since they were just children. It didn't seem right for them to risk their lives in order to protect the Digital World, a world separate from their own. They'd been ripped away from their friends, their families, all for the sake of a parallel dimension filled with monsters. And they were such good kids; it wasn't right to ask them to do this.

She felt guilty about putting these children in danger, but it was more than that with Kouji. She was absolutely terrified of harm ever coming his way. Imagining him broken and defeated in her sister's grip, being subjected to the worst possible torture, so sickeningly painful…it was too much for her to bear.

"Oh Kouji," Masumon muttered to herself, staring up at the dark sky filtering through the trees. "What have you done to me?"

She wasn't sure if Kouji would be able to answer that question himself. All she knew was that each time she looked at him, saw the deep-seated spark of courage and determination in his eyes, her world suddenly revolved around him. She couldn't stop this feeling, it just came naturally. And that was why it was so hard to listen to Gotsumon and stay where she was. Because she had to protect Kouji, no matter the cost…

That was when she felt it. A sudden, uncontrollable surge of power. To her surprise, this sensation was vaguely familiar. Slowly, she remembered what had happened that day, the day that everything had changed. For one second, Agunimon had lost all control…they had barely managed to bring him back afterward, and it had affected Lobomon as well…could Takuya really have…?

Masumon's eyes grew progressively wider as she realized what was happening. The Legendary Warriors' fail-safe had been triggered. "Their Ancient power…"

—

_Almost…_ Kumamon thought, finally feeling some weight bearing down from the rock that had crushed him. Well, would have crushed him, had he not been so quick-thinking.

He and the rest of the gang had all climbed to the top of the RMS, but they'd been blown off the structure by a giant gust of wind. Since most of the others could fly, Kumamon figured that they would be alright (Ha!), so he'd begun thinking of a way to soften the blow for himself. Seconds before he hit the ground, it came to him. He could transform his body to snow, ensuring his survival when he hit earth.

Realizing this, his body melted into slush, creating a much softer impact with the ground. He didn't have time to celebrate the success of his plan, though, before something hard fell on top of him, pinning him to the ground. Of course, in the state he was in, the object (a rock, he realized) hadn't killed him, but it was preventing him from regaining his solid form.

At first he couldn't move at all and merely sat as he was, not even able to yell to the others for help. He could only hope that they would, for whatever reason, remove this rock from its perch atop his body and free him.

Finally, after several panic-filled, claustrophobic minutes, his patience paid off as he felt the rock move slightly, unpinning what would have been his arm. _Yes! Just a little more…_

However, the rock suddenly stopped moving as quickly as it had started, still leaving Kumamon trapped beneath its weight. _Darn it_, he thought, panic threatening to overtake him again. Would he be stuck under this stupid rock forever? Him and his dumb idea…

Then he realized something. _Wait…my arm's not stuck anymore!_

Kumamon tried to move his left arm and, sure enough, the rock was no longer pinning it to the ground. Soon he managed to reconfigure its snowy mass into a solid, furry paw. This didn't do him too much good, considering that the rest of his body was still slush, but he was finally making head-way. If he could just work down from his arm, maybe he could get himself solid enough to shove the boulder off with his Digi-strength. (I kid you not, that is the only word I could think of to describe it. They should put me on the scriptwriting staff for the dub of Xros Wars…)

With this plan in place, he got to work, sending the impulses through his limbs that would turn his body from a snowy mass back to its flesh-and-data counterpart. Finally, after almost ten minutes of thorough concentration, Kumamon could feel his arms and legs again, feel his heart beating in his chest, feel everything returning to its normal function inside his body. _Just one more push, and…_

Suddenly, power surged through Kumamon's exhausted body. In only three seconds time, he completely snapped back to his bear form and shoved the large boulder off of him like it was nothing. For a moment, he was stunned. Then he looked up and noticed the ring of fire (Why does that phrase always remind me of Finding Nemo…?) raging several feet in front of him, reaching toward the dark sky.

"Whoa!" he cried in shock, falling backwards at the sight of the flames. He wondered briefly why, even at this distance, he wasn't at least being singed by this nearly out-of-control bonfire, until he noticed the large chunk of debris sitting in front of him, acting as a kind of shield.

"Tommy?" Kumamon turned, wondering who had suddenly said his name. He found Kouji standing a short distance away from him, looking a bit bruised and beaten. Kumamon didn't dwell too much on this, however, since his friend was giving him a weird, wide-eyed look, as if he were surprised to see him. What he said next explained this look.

"You're alive…"

—

"Well, this has turned into quite an interesting predicament," Ilsemon muttered thoughtfully, joining Renamon and Duskmon closer to the walls of the RMS and away from the blaze of the fire.

"You don't seem surprised," Renamon commented, glancing coolly at her mistress. "Doesn't that boy's sudden power surge worry you?"

"Oh, I'm quite surprised," Ilsemon replied, the ever-present smirk still stuck on her face. "I am not worried, however. I am just curious to see how this shall play out. That boy has tapped into something he can neither comprehend nor control. I wonder what will become of him once the spirit's power takes effect…"

_In other words, you believe he'll die before he has the chance to stop you_, Renamon thought, glancing at Duskmon to try to gauge his opinion. However, he didn't seem to be paying the least bit of attention to what was happening to the Warrior of Fire.

_~No, no, no! He can't do this! Not when I'm so close to getting kitty back! Dusky, you have to stop him! Stop the Warrior of Fire from completing his transformation before it's too late!~_

_And how…do you propose…I do that?_ Duskmon asked weakly. All of Nina's yelling was making it hard to concentrate on anything at the moment. _He's gone off the deep-end. I don't have the power to…_

_~You have to!~_ Nina shouted, interrupting his thoughts in their tracks. _~If he uses THAT power, he won't just kill himself, he'll drag the others, including kitty, down with him. I lost kitty once, and I won't lose him again! Please, Dusky, you have to finish Goggle-head off!~ _(_Takuya:_ Wow, what an original name. Haven't heard THAT one before…)

_Finish him…off?_ Duskmon knew what Nina meant, but he mentally voiced this question in order to confirm it.

_~Dusky…you have to kill him.~_

Just as he feared. He had to kill that child…Takuya…before something happened. He had no idea what that something was, but it seemed to frighten Nina, so it must be something very powerful, and equally dangerous. But he couldn't kill that boy. Just the thought of raising his sword above the Warrior of Fire's head, the latter helpless and trembling underneath his superior skill…

_I can't…_ Duskmon tried to decline the order Nina had given him, but her panicked shrieks soon drowned out any thoughts he had.

_~Look, the Warrior of Earth is being affected too! At this rate, they'll all succumb to it! That stupid fail-safe! Dusky, you have to kill the Warrior of Fire! Kill Goggle-head! KILL TAKUYA!~_

—

"Taki!" Kira tried to rush forward, but found herself in Shino's restraining grip before she got any closer to the flames that had consumed her boyfriend. She struggled furiously, knowing that she'd be able to break free if she tried. It was just Shino, after all. She was stronger than him. He couldn't hold her for long.

But Shino was determined to keep her captive. Holding her back with all his strength, he said, "Stop it, Kira. Calm down and think for a second."

"You can sit here and think about any damn thing you want, but I'm getting Taki out of there!" she retorted, dragging her captor forward an inch.

Shino quickly regained his footing and once again rooted Kira to the spot. "That's stupid! How are you planning on getting inside there without being burned to a crisp, huh? I don't think Takuya would appreciate it very much if you recklessly died trying to save him!"

"Well what about him?" Kira cried, eyes trained on the flaming inferno. Even from where she stood, the heat of the flames threatened to burn her. How could Takuya survive inside that thing? She wouldn't be surprised if he were already…

"Taki'll be fine," JP suddenly said, popping up behind the two. Placing a hand on Kira's shoulder, he continued, "He's the Warrior of Fire, remember? He conjured this up somehow, and his own flames don't seem to hurt him. Granted, I don't know what the hell he's doing right now, but whatever it is, it has to be good, because I suddenly feel a whole lot better than I did a few seconds ago."

Shino and Kira realized that JP was probably right not to worry. Takuya was indeed the Warrior of Fire, so how much could a little fiery inferno possibly hurt him? And they did feel a lot more strengthened, ever since their D-Tectors started glowing…

"This isn't a good thing," Kouichi stated, suddenly standing next to JP. Zoe was with him, trying to pretend the pain from her arm wasn't still bothering her.

"Geez, Chief!" JP exclaimed, startled by his friend's sudden appearance. "Think you can warn a guy next time you pull a Xellos?"

Kouichi glanced at JP, expression grave. "I'm serious, guys. What's happening to Takuya right now isn't good. In fact, I'd go so far as to say it could end up killing him."

The others flinched, surprised by Kouichi's assessment. "But the last time this happened, Takuya and Kouji ended up evolving into Susanoomon," JP argued, glancing at his shaking D-Tector. "I thought that might be what was happening now…"

"I think Kouichi's right," Zoe said, adding her input. "This isn't the same as Susanoomon. That power felt more controlled, less berserk. Whatever Takuya's doing now, it's obvious that he's not in control anymore. Don't you remember the look he gave Ilsemon right before that fire spurted up?"

"Uh, no. I was watching my D-Tector freak out," JP replied, raising an eyebrow in confusion. "What'd I miss?"

"I saw him," Kira stated solemnly, staring at the glowing flames. In fact, she could picture it perfectly in her mind; the glare Takuya had given Ilsemon before he'd been engulfed, a glare holding more hate than she'd honestly believed anyone could possess, especially her easy-going little Taki… "To put it lightly, he was pissed off."

"I'd say we're all a little pissed right now," Shino muttered, glancing warily at the flames. "But Kouichi and Zoe are right. We have to stop Takuya before he hurts himself."

"Argh!" This sudden pained shout reminded the others of one very important fact, a fact they'd all forgotten until this moment. The last time they'd checked, Dai had been suffering from an attack…

"Dai!" Sure enough, when they turned around, Dai was standing a short distance away from them, hugging his stomach tightly.

Zoe was instantly at the smaller boy's side, followed quickly by the others. "Dai, we're here now," she said reassuringly, crouching down and placing her good hand gently on her friend's trembling shoulder. "Is there something we can do to help you…?"

"I'm not having a damn attack!" The ferocity of Dai's reply startled the rest of the gang, even causing Zoe to fall back in surprise. Then there was the look in his eyes when he raised his head to glare at them. No, not at them. His gaze wasn't focused on anything specific. He was just furious, and it showed plainly in his expression.

"Uh, Dai, do you have some bi-polar disorder that you forgot to mention to us?" JP asked, chuckling warily. "If you do, I'm sure TK will share his meds with you." (TK: the bi-polar Digidestined. Think about it and realize the truth.)

Dai glanced at his vibrating D-Tector, than around at the rest of his friends. "You mean you can't feel it?"

The others gave each other confused looks, not knowing what Dai could mean by that. "Well, we feel a little less battered than we did before Takuya went ballistic," Shino replied. "Is that what you mean?"

Smirking, Dai closed his eyes. "That's not it. This feeling, this urge to kill…it's what Takuya wants us to feel, too. If we release this anger, then we can help him kill her. And then we can get Hotaru back!"

Despite Dai's explanation making no sense at all (though that was per usual for Dai), his reply gave the others an idea of what was making him so angry. Hotaru had already been captured by Ilsemon, who they all knew planned to torture him once she got the chance. And Dai felt responsible. Hotaru always tried to protect everyone, especially his cousin. But no one had protected him…

"Gah!" Dai cried out in apparent pain as another tremor coursed through him, only this time it didn't just affect him. This tremor seemed to run through the boy's body and into the earth, causing the ground to shake slightly. Zoe was quickly at his side again, muttering comforting phrases until the pain passed and the earthquake ceased.

"Oh great, now we're having earthquakes," JP mumbled, glancing up at the sky. "And look, the clouds are darker and more ominous than usual. I sense a dramatic emo anime rainstorm on the horizon!"

"JP, I know you're trying to lighten the tension and I appreciate it, but could you please shut up now?" Kouichi asked politely, glancing between the column of flames and Dai. "Something's happening to Dai, and it has to be connected to what's happening to Takuya."

JP sighed heavily. "I know, Kouichi. We gotta stop this before we all start turning into elemental versions of the Hulk or something weird like that."

_The Hulk…?_ Kira repeated JP's comment to herself, realizing that the answer to this problem was simple. In fact, it was staring them all right in the face. "Anger! They're angry! That's what's making this happen!"

Before the others could stop her or even ask what she meant, Kira was racing toward the flames, getting as close to them as she possibly could. Then she yelled loudly, "Taki, cut it out already, will ya? The whole 'vengeance' thing really doesn't suit you!"

"Kira, what are you doing?" Zoe cried exasperatedly, getting to her feet. However, she momentarily forgot that her left arm was still broken, and when she tried to push herself up…

"Argh, damn it!" she cursed, wincing as waves of pain throbbed through her arm.

Kouichi rushed to Zoe's side, meaning to lift her to her feet. A pain of his own, however, suddenly flared up in his chest when he bent over to help her. He flinched as it throbbed more powerfully than before. It had been a dull ache until now…

Shino noticed his friend flinch and asked, "Kouichi, what's wrong?"

"It's nothing," Kouichi replied quickly, not wanting the others to worry. "Just a little sore from when Ilsemon slammed me against that rock, I guess."

"Sore?" Shino pressed, taking a step forward. "Sore where exactly?"

"It's no big deal," Kouichi said, smiling slightly to reassure the others.

"I think you should listen to Shino, Kouichi," Zoe stated, quickly becoming concerned for her boyfriend's well-being. "You were flinching like that before, when you were trying to get up. There might be something wrong with you, and Shino's the closest thing to a doctor we have around here."

Kouichi stared at Zoe, his resolve melting under her gaze. Finally, he caved. "It's my chest, okay? There's been this persistent ache there ever since Ilsemon attacked me. But really, I don't think it's a big deal. It's probably just a bruise or something."

"That's what I was afraid of," Shino muttered half to himself. "Try taking a deep breath and see what happens."

Kouichi had no clue where this was going, but obliged and sucked in a big lungful of air. To his surprise, the action caused him discomfort, and the pain in his chest worsened. "Ow," he said through gritted teeth. "That hurt."

"In that case, I think I know what's going on," Shino said, brows knitted in concern. "When Ilsemon slammed you against that rock, she bruised your ribs, possibly even broke some. My dad had this same thing happen to him a few years ago."

"So is Kouichi going to be okay?" Zoe asked hopefully.

"Well, he probably will be as long as he lets it heal," Shino muttered, glancing at his feet. "The only problem is that we can't take an X-ray, so we don't know the severity of the damage. But like I'd even be able to read an X-ray if we took one…this is so frustrating! I can't do anything to help you guys—ARGH!"

Suddenly, Shino doubled over, hugging his stomach tightly as if to contain his agony. "No, Shino!" Zoe cried, racing over to her friend as he sank to his knees, trembling uncontrollably as the pain ate at him. Zoe stood helplessly over Shino, turning to stare at Kouichi with wide eyes. "What's happening to us?"

Meanwhile, Kira was still trying to reach Takuya. "C'mon Taki, give it up already! I get it, you're pissed at Ilsemon, but that doesn't mean you have to go all SkullGreymon on her! I mean, think about it! Tai was a dick that entire SkullGreymon episode! Is that what you wanna be, Taki? A dick?"

"Kira, get away from there!" JP shouted from a safe distance. "Even if Takuya can hear you, he's not gonna listen! He engulfed himself in flames, for crying out loud!"

"He can hear me!" Kira stated firmly, glaring indignantly at the fire. "This is just a flimsy shield. Taki's still in there, and he can hear everything we're saying. He just can't HEAR it yet, so I'm gonna make him hear me!"

"What are you talking about?" JP cried exasperatedly. "That doesn't make any sense!"

"It makes perfect sense, JP," Kira replied, turning to stare at her friend. "At least, it would make sense to us, the ones who weren't immediately able to control their Beast Spirits. You know what I mean now, don't you?"

Sadly, JP did know what she meant. When he'd first gotten MetalKabuterimon's spirit, he hadn't been prepared for the sudden surge of power that coursed through him. He thought he'd had an idea of what to expect; he'd questioned Kouji and Takuya on the specifics, after all. But it hadn't done him any good. The fog had still managed to encase his mind, clouding his vision until he couldn't tell who was friend or foe. And because of his crazy melee of electric blasts, he'd nearly caused everyone to drown…

"You think that Takuya…" JP began slowly, staring at the raging flames.

"He's angry, JP," Kira said. "I know how he feels. He just wants to get back at that crazy bitch for all that she's done to us. But whatever this power is that Taki's tapping into, he's probably not gonna be able to fully control it, and he's gonna end up regretting ever using it. He's already guilty about the BurningGreymon thing; we don't need to add this to the list. Zee handles emo better than me, after all.

"And besides," she muttered, turning to stare at the ring of fire. "He saved me before. The least I can do is return the favor. Hear that, Taki? I'm gonna snap you out of this, no matter what it takes!"

As if on Kira's cue, the flames suddenly began to shrink, growing smaller and smaller until they could finally see him. Takuya, standing within the flames, eyes wide and slightly cloudy. Luckily, he didn't look hurt. Still, he was glowing with a strange red light…

"Finally!" Kira shouted in exasperation, giving her boyfriend an annoyed look. "Geez, Taki, try to warn a girl before you turn into the Human Torch!" (What's with all these superhero references…?)

Takuya stared at Kira for the next minute or so as the flames around him dimmed and eventually disappeared, until only he remained. Slowly, he tilted his head, confusion shining in his eyes. "Kira…?"

"Duh!" Kira replied, shaking her head in mock annoyance. "Man, you are really out of it, aren't you? At least I still knew who my boyfriend was when I went bat-shit crazy."

"Boy…friend?" Takuya repeated, a look of concentration on his face as he tried to piece together the memories. "Kira…what is going on?"

Kira chuckled, secretly relieved despite her calm exterior. That hadn't been as hard as she'd thought. Didn't Taki usually have a thicker skull than this? Oh well, as long as he was okay, it didn't really matter. He still looked pretty confused, though, so Kira decided to give him a little shake. "Taki, you honestly look more brain dead than Kanon from Umineko—OW!"

"Kira!" JP called his friend's name as she fell backwards, apparently startled by something. He glanced at Takuya, who was still covered in a strange red hue, then down at Kira, who was ripping off her gloves with her teeth, eyes fixed on her bare palms in apparent shock.

"Kira…" Takuya muttered slowly, stepping forward. Reaching down, he tried to turn her arm around in order to find out why she was staring at her hands like that. "Are you al—"

"Argh!" Kira cried out in pain when Takuya's glove met her skin, and the latter instantly withdrew his hand. That was when he saw. For a moment, Kira had lowered her palms enough for Takuya to see the red welts that had formed there. Now there were matching marks on her arm, marks in the shape of a hand…

"I hurt you..." Takuya's eyes widened in horror at this revelation. "I…I hurt Kira…I burned her…"

_I tried to warn you, Takuya. I tried…_

"Taki?" Kira watched as Takuya took several shaky steps back, clutching his head tightly between his hands. His eyes were wide and blank with terror, and he was visibly shaking from head to toe. "Taki, it's just a few burns. I'll be fine…"

"I'M SORRY!" Suddenly Kira felt something grab her by the collar, leaping away with her in tow just as Takuya burst into flames again. They weren't as huge or intense as they had been a moment before, but if she'd still been sitting in front of Taki when they'd flared up…

Both she and the one who had grabbed her landed several feet away from Takuya with a loud thud. Wait, a loud thud? She certainly didn't weigh enough to produce a thud that powerful. Turning, she found KendoGarurumon standing behind her, gripping the back of her shirt in his teeth. "Pretty boy?"

Silently, KendoGarurumon released Kira from his mouth, muttering a quick, "You're welcome, Yankee," before his attention returned to what was currently happening to Takuya.

Kira turned as well, and what she saw made her wish she hadn't. The flames that had surrounded Takuya were now concentrated around his left arm, engulfing it in a fiery inferno. Takuya didn't even wince at the sight of the flames. His expression remained distant as he raised his D-Tector. Suddenly, Kira realized what was going on. Takuya was going to use that uncontrollable power to Spirit Evolve into who-knew-what. And he was so bogged down with anger and guilt that he didn't even care if he lost himself in the process. "Taki, stop!"

"Takuya!" KendoGarurumon tensed his muscles, preparing to rush forward and ram into his friend if that was what it took to stop him. With his Beast Spirit's speed, he'd be able to make it. Then Takuya wouldn't have to die, and Tommy wouldn't have to…

"ARGH!"

A blood-curdling scream of pain split the air as a red beam of energy struck Takuya from out of nowhere, shocking him like some demented cross between a bolt of lightning and a laser beam. The attack ceased a moment later and Takuya, eyes now wide with shock, fell first to his knees, then flat on his face. Then he was still.

In fact, everything was still, as if time had momentarily frozen. Every human and Digimon in the surrounding area could merely stare at Takuya's motionless body, not knowing what else to do. Actually, there was one exception to this. Renamon was actually staring at Duskmon, stunned by what she'd seen him do.

Duskmon was stunned as well, but for a different reason. He was stunned because he'd just realized he'd fired an attack.

—

_…Oh._

_Didn't see that coming._

_Guess we're just humans after all._

—

_madjack89:_ And there you have it!

_Everyone:_ O.O

_madjack89:_ Crazy stuff, huh? But on the bright side, Tommy's not dead! Yays!

_Everyone:_ O.O

_madjack89:_ Oh boy, I can tell you guys aren't gonna thaw until the next chapter, so I'll just end it here. Happy whatever's left of Valentine's Day, everybody! Hope you liked the chapter, cuz it was quite a doozy to write! Okay, see ya next time!


	41. Ch 41: Picking Up The Pieces

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 41: Picking Up The Pieces**

_madjack89:_ Hey everyone, let's have some fun! It's time for chapter 41! :D

_Kouji:_ _*sigh*_

_madjack89:_ Yes indeed, we've made it all the way to chapter 41, which means we've gotten to the point in the story where I start to flip the tale of the Legendary Warriors upside-down! Yay!

_Kouji: *double sigh*_ …What the hell is a double sigh?

_madjack89:_ You tell me. You just did it.

_Kouji: *triple sigh*_ …Yeah, I give up.

_madjack89:_ Well, it seems that you've all recovered from your shock!

_Shino:_ Pretty much.

_JP:_ We gave it some thought and figured the odds of Taki actually dying are about 63 to 37 in our favor.

_Kouichi:_ Plus he's standing right here.

_Takuya:_ Hey everybody! I'm not dead…yet.

_madjack89:_ I'm glad to hear that you're all in good spirits, because now we're going to discuss those videos I made you guys watch on youtube.

_Kouji:_ Oh god…

_madjack89:_ Fans of Digimon Frontier and fellow abridged whores!

_Shino:_ Abridged whores?

_madjack89:_ I use that term to describe myself. It means I watch a lot of abridged series.

_Shino: *nods*_ Continue.

_madjack89:_ I have joyous news to proclaim, and I can no longer hold it in! I think that I have finally found a decent, well-made, well-planned Digimon Frontier ABRIDGED! Yay!

_Kouji:_ Which only means trouble for the rest of us.

_Kira:_ Guess again, pretty boy! Me, Dai, Shino, and Taru are OCs, so our heads are off the abridged chopping block! Ha ha!

_Dai:_ Aw, I think it would be fun to get abridged!

_JP:_ Tell that to Neji.

_Neji:_ _*sigh*_ All I can say is at least they haven't used "You Spin Me 'Round (Like a Record)" yet.

_madjack89:_ Good idea, Neji! _*pulls up iTunes library and plays aforementioned song*_

_Neji: *eye twitches*_

_madjack89: _Anyway, specifics! The series is on the channel DFAbridge on youtube, and if you're into Frontier and abridging, I'd recommend checking it out! I see some definite potential from it in episodes to come, and the editing is superb!

_JP:_ And for some reason I'm bi-polar and demonic…?

_Tommy:_ And I sound like I'm on a constant sugar high.

_Takuya:_ And Ophanimon keeps yelling at me and calling me stupid. -_-

_Kouji:_ And my screen time is ripped away from me.

_Zoe:_ No offense Kouji, but you rip screen time away from yourself by being the stereotypical lone wolf.

_Kouji:_ …Point taken.

_Kouichi: *shrugs*_ I should be safe for about 20 episodes or so.

_Kouji:_ Lucky.

_madjack89:_ Anyway, that's my random advertisement for today. Let's answer some reviews and get to the chapter!

_*break*_

_KingdomHeartsandIchigoLover:_ But if I had kept going, the ending wouldn't be as epic and it wouldn't keep the readers screaming for more! ;) Thanks for reviewing!

_TobiGB:_ (_Takuya:_ Shut up, shark boy! You could do worse than burn her! Ever think of that?) Settle, Taki, he's just an oversized shark. (_Takuya:_ Grr…) (_Kouji:_ -_- I'll keep that in mind, Deadpool.) (_Duskmon:_ What's he talking about?) Madara, shut up! Dusky doesn't even know about that! (_Duskmon:_ Don't know about what?) Sorry Tai, but…well…during the SkullGreymon episode, you were…oh, who cares? You're still awesome! *_hugs Tai*_ (_Tai: *sigh*_) I'll work on it, Deadpool. Anyway, thanks for reviewing, GB! (_Dai:_ And thanks for the cookies! ^.^)

_Taeniaea:_ Thanks! (I'm beginning to see a pattern with these reviews. lol)

_GoldenDragon326:_ Well, Kouji came to the same conclusion as the others, that Takuya would end up dying if they didn't stop him. The thing with Tommy is explained in more detail below. Thanks for the review!

_Dawn of Glory:_ How about a SUPER MEGA ULTRA JAW DROP OF DOOM! (lol) Aw, don't cry! It'll all work out in the end! (_Kouji:_ Will it?) Oh, don't you start! Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_emzy:_ Aw, thank you! _*blushes slightly from compliments*_ Wow, that sounds awesome! I wish I could have a dream like that. (_Takuya:_ Use the force, Kouji!) (_Kouji:_ -_- If you don't end up dying, I'll gladly kill you for that.) (_Takuya:_ _*sweatdrop*_) Thanks again for reviewing!

_Immortal Fallen Radiance:_ Yeah, that whole thing with Duskmon will be explained a little more later down the road. For now we can just assume Dusky was being helpful for the baddies! (_Duskmon: *sigh*_) Thanks for reviewing!

_LoneWolfVampire13:_ Well, Taki's not dead yet. (_Takuya:_ Yet…) (_Kouji and Kouichi:_ Hey!) No, killing the twins is too obvious. Anyway, thanks for reviewing! (I love Maximum Ride! Yay Iggy! ^_^)

_Aldamonburst:_ Well, it's certainly not of my own design, but a spirit WAS awakening. More details on that later. (_Takuya:_ Nope, not dead…yet.) As I stated above, killing the twins is too obvious. (_Kouji and Kouichi:_ -_-) Donald, you jerk! Don't worry, Kaito, you're not a baby! Anyway, thanks for the review, Burst!

_cherrrysakura:_ Yeah, there's a possibility Kouichi could die from that, but he'll be fine. Promise! And seriously guys, Taki's not dead. (_Takuya: _Yet.) _*sigh*_ Thanks for reviewing!

_fg1fg:_ I know, isn't it crazy? I've been writing this since my junior year of high school, and now I'm already in college! Time sure does fly…anyway, back to the review. My theory about JP's chocolate horde involves his large pockets. And a dimensional warp. But we don't need to get into that now. (lol) I think Gotsu-Witch is one of the weirdest Digimon pairings ever, which is why I did it! Yes, it was Zachary. Seriously, if they want to pay me to help write the Xros Wars script, I'll do it! (Yay money! :D) Well, Digimon is technically a kid's show and they probably don't feel they should bother with all the nitty-gritty injuries, but I'll deal with them all I like since I rated this story T! (For violence, slight innuendo at times, and Kira's dirty mouth. :P) Wow, this got really long. Sorry I ramble too much. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_13wolfsbane: _(_Duskmon: *sigh*_) Of course TK is bi-polar, Yin. Like you said, he shows all the signs. It's okay, though, cuz he's still cute! :) Kouji was conveniently the only one near enough to the boulder to see Tommy pop out. Everyone else was conveniently on the other side of the fire. Ah, how I love convenience! (lol) Hotaru got kidnapped back in chapter…a couple chapters ago! He's in the RMS at the moment. Alright, thanks for reviewing, ladies!

_silver fire wolf:_ Aw, don't worry about Takuya, Kokoro! If there's one thing Digidestined are good at, it's recovering from grievous injuries! (_JP:_ I thought we were good at being dysfunctionally-functional.) That too. Thanks for the review, guys! (_Duskmon:_ No, really? God, I swear…)

_LadyWarGreymon:_ Wow, it is kinda like Avatar! Ha! (_Takuya:_ Except I have hair.) True that. Don't worry, Taru will be fine…heh heh… (_Hotaru:_ Oh boy…) Thanks for reviewing!

_toonwriter:_ Oh, it's all good! I can be pretty slow too. (_JP:_ Both in reading and writing stories.) Quiet, you! I'd say more than half the things I do in this story break the fourth wall. XD Well, it was never stated that TK is bi-polar, but just look at his random flashes of rage. Totally bi-polar. (_TK: *sigh*_ The sad thing is, I can't tell if you're making fun of me or not.) Thanks for reviewing!

_reirukuro-x:_ (_Takuya:_ How is Duskmon awesome for trying to kill me?) (_Duskmon:_ Isn't that also why I was awesome in the original series?) (_Takuya:_ Grr…) Oh, Dai will get an arc partially dedicated to him…sometime in the distant future. Thanks for reviewing!

_Musical Darkness:_ Plus I stated he wasn't dead in the commentaries! (lol) Dusky didn't kill Taki. (_Takuya: _Yet.) Will you stop that? (_Takuya: _Well, it's true!) _*sigh*_ Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

_LilAngelx55:_ (_Takuya:_ Heh, cute emoness!) (_Kouji: *sigh*_) Of course I'll continue this, silly! I haven't given up on a story yet! Thanks for reviewing! (Glad you liked the Susanoomon debate!)

_hazeleyedharmony:_ The monologues are indeed Takuya's. I thought it was obvious that they were his, so I didn't state it outright. :P Glad you liked them, though! I thought the chapter needed something, so I added them to spice it up. Anyway, thanks for reviewing, hazel! Now go do your homework! (lol)

_NobodyLovesAMisfit:_ I'll get updates out as fast as I can, with school and all. Thanks for reviewing!

_Phantomgirl96:_ I'm pretty sure Taiki has more strategical brain power than all the other goggle-heads/leaders put together. (_Takuya:_ Hey!) Thanks for reviewing! (Oh, this story is far from over…)

_Shadowfox94:_ Yay references! And yay for Tommy not being dead! But boo for Taru's fate being up in the air right now! (Even though I'm the one making it that way. ^.^') You're right, emo doesn't suit Taki well, but…eh, he'll work things out eventually. (_Takuya:_ …What you just said worries me.) Yeah yeah…pobre Dusky. Anyway, thanks for reviewing!

(Dang, 22 reviews for a single chapter? That must be a record or something. Thank you all again for your awesome reviews! I really appreciate them!)

_*break*_

_madjack89:_ Okay, let's get back to the story!

—

Tommy pressed his head firmly against his knees, not daring to make a single sound. His fingers dug into his skull painfully, but he couldn't calm his terror enough to slacken their hold. He'd ripped his hat off his head for fear that someone would notice it. It wasn't exactly inconspicuous, and it served a better purpose acting as a cushion for him to sit on. His mouth was clamped shut, keeping his frightened whimpers to himself. If he made any noise, he'd be discovered for sure. Then Kouji's plan would be ruined, and Takuya would still run the risk of dying.

Takuya…dead. That wasn't exactly a pleasant thought, but it was the one Tommy held in his mind as he curled into the tightest fetal position he could manage, trying to remain hidden behind the same piece of debris that had shielded him from the flames before. The shouts and protests of his friends had died off several minutes ago, but he had to be sure that Ilsemon and her lackeys really were gone before he came out of hiding.

In reality, he wanted to rush out into the open and scream at the top of his lungs in sheer frustration. But what would that accomplish? If Ilsemon was still there, she'd be on him instantly, like a bird swooping down on its prey. Then he'd be imprisoned with the others, leaving Takuya wounded and alone. Tommy couldn't let that happen, wouldn't let that happen. So he'd closed his eyes, covered his ears, and tried to drown out Kira's desperate pleas as Ilsemon and her accomplices dragged her away.

Yes, he could have come out of hiding. Yes, he could have caught Ilsemon by surprise. Yes, he could have tried to save the rest of his friends. Instead, he'd chosen to listen to Kouji. But he trusted the older boy. Kouji was smart. He didn't take risks if he could avoid them, especially where the others were concerned. He'd thought this through, and he'd come up with the most rational solution in sight.

The cogs in his friend's brain had gone to work the minute he'd set his eyes on Kumamon. Before the bear-like Digimon could ask what in the world he'd meant when he'd said "You're alive," Kouji had rushed forward and tackled him to the ground. After he'd ensured that Kumamon was too stunned to protest what had just happened, he was peering around the piece of debris, eyes fixed on some point across the battlefield (as Kumamon assumed this space had become). He seemed satisfied with what he saw and turned back to his companion.

He didn't speak, so Kumamon took this as an opportunity to voice his confusion. "What's going on, Kouji? Why'd you tackle me? And why is there fire everywhere?" He didn't ask why Kouji had thought he was dead. That was too terrifying a thought after almost being crushed by a boulder.

In response, Kouji put a finger to his lips, indicating that Kumamon should lower his voice. This strengthened the Warrior's confusion. Why was Kouji being so secretive? And why did he keep glancing over his shoulder like that? Was there some enemy out there within that column of fire? If so, why had Kouji tackled him behind this stone? To keep him hidden?

Then it came to him. If the others thought he was dead, and if there was an enemy within or near those flames, then he could provide… "You mean…you want me to try a sneak attack?"

"No!" Kouji almost shouted this but, remembering his own advice, lowered his voice to a reasonable level. "No, Tommy, I don't want you to take that risk. I doubt you could sneak up on Ilsemon, anyway."

"Sure I can!" Kumamon replied, rising to his feet. Kouji shushed him, so he continued at a lower volume. "If Ilsemon doesn't know I'm here, I'm sure I could surprise her. You could distract whoever's guarding her, and I could…"

"It wouldn't work." Kouji instantly rejected Kumamon's plan. Smiling bitterly, he said a moment later, "Tommy, we've been had. Ilsemon's no pushover; she's more powerful than we thought."

Kumamon tilted his head, not following Kouji's explanation. "Well, I guess Ilsemon's kinda powerful, but she just gets other people to do her dirty work. I thought that if we attacked her…"

"She beat us," Kouji said flatly, cutting his friend off. "On her own, she beat every single one of us…well, except for you. But that's only because she assumed you were dead and not worth the trouble to try to find."

Unable to hold it in, the inevitable question broke out. "You guys thought I was dead…?"

Kouji took a long pause before replying. "We didn't know what to think. When we couldn't find you after that fall…but it doesn't matter now, because you're fine. Better yet, you're in perfect condition to escape."

"Escape…" Suddenly, it all made sense. Kouji shoving him behind this rock, forcing him to be quiet, ensuring that no one knew he was here. All so he could get away. But what about…? "I'm not leaving the rest of you here!"

"Shhh!" Kumamon would have ignored this order, but Kouji was dead serious, so he bit his tongue, letting his friend explain himself. "I know, okay? It's not an easy thing to do. But we'll be fine. The worst Ilsemon can do is torture us. We'll deal with it. You have to be the one to tell Gotsumon and the others what happened to us. We can't be rescued if no one knows where we are. You're more help to us free than you are captive."

He wanted to argue, but Kumamon knew that Kouji's logic was sound. It was despicable, practically unthinkable, but it made sense. If he could get away from here (abandoning his friends in the process), he could get reinforcements and liberate them from Ilsemon's clutches later. But what if there were no reinforcements left, or what if the Resistance was hit with such heavy losses that they couldn't afford an invasion of the RMS for weeks, even months? What would happen to his friends in the time it took to rescue them?

Kumamon looked at his friend. Kouji wore the same calm expression typical of his disposition. But beneath this nonchalance, he could see the truth. Kouji was scared. He didn't want to be subjected to whatever Ilsemon had in store for him and the others. He wanted to run along with Kumamon. But he believed so firmly in Ilsemon's ability to stop them that he was willing to sacrifice his, his brother's, everyone else's well-being in order to ultimately save them. And the success of his plan sat right on Kumamon's shoulders. "Kouji…"

"You won't be alone," Kouji said, cutting Kumamon off. "I want you to take Takuya with you. It's a risk, but Takuya can't afford to be captured now. If I manage to calm him down, I want you to…"

"Calm him down?" The fire raging out there…and Takuya…they were connected. Suddenly, Kumamon understood. Ilsemon had beaten them a little too thoroughly. They'd all thought he was dead. And Takuya hadn't been able to stand it anymore. "Takuya!"

"Tommy, no!" Before Kumamon could rush out from hiding, Kouji rammed his shoulder into the bear Digimon's chest, sending them both toppling to the ground. Air momentarily escaped Kumamon's lungs, and by the time he'd regained his bearings, Kouji had both his arms pinned to the ground. He smiled, knowing that Kouji was no match for him in this form, no matter what he did. He was about to shake the older boy off when he noticed Kouji wince. The arm Kumamon had grabbed, after easily twisting out of Kouji's grip, was developing a noticeably large bruise. Kouji was hurt, and he was making it worse.

Instantly, Kumamon's hand fell from his friend's arm and he let his entire body go limp. "I'm sorry," he muttered, unable to look Kouji in the eye. He felt the pressure on his arms slacken and took this as Kouji's acceptance of his apology.

"Tommy," his older friend said a moment later. Kumamon didn't look up, but Kouji continued nonetheless. "Tommy, I'm not going to beat around the bush. I've done that enough already. Takuya runs the risk of dying. There's this prophecy, and since it's been right about everything else it's predicted, we should start taking it seriously. I'm gonna stop Takuya, and then I want you to grab him and run. I'll keep Ilsemon preoccupied. Heh, can't wait to see the look on her face when she realizes we one-uped her, at least for a second."

All the new information being thrown at Kumamon had numbed him at this point, so the news of Takuya's fated death barely fazed him. Besides, Kouji seemed convinced that they could change Takuya's fate. But only if he consented to abandon the others. "I don't want to leave you…"

Kouji chuckled slightly. "You're a good kid, Tommy. I'm glad we ended up smoothing things out between us. Thanks…for everything."

"Kouji!" In the time it took Kumamon to jump to his feet, KendoGarurumon was already gone. The Warrior of Ice took a step forward in pursuit, then paused. Kouji wanted him to stay hidden, but those parting words…it was like Kouji didn't think he'd see Tommy again.

Finally, he decided to peek around the debris and see what was going on. It couldn't hurt if he just took a brief look. No one would see him…

Tommy bit the inside of his cheek, trying to block out the image of Takuya's limp body…he wasn't dead. Duskmon couldn't have…killed him.

But Tommy had seen it. His attention had been entirely focused on Takuya, on the raw power emanating from the Warrior of Fire. It occurred to him that the surge of energy he'd felt earlier when removing that boulder had come from some source. Takuya. Takuya was tapping into a power spanning all ten Legendary Warriors. Susanoomon? No, it was something even greater than that. This was…

_Tommy!_

Kumamon's sudden shout broke Tommy from his reverie. His head shot up, for his gaze had lowered to the ground, and the first thing that caught his attention was Duskmon, raising his arm, taking aim. Firing.

"Takuya!" Unable to stay still any longer, Tommy burst out of hiding. As he'd expected, the battlefield was empty save for all the rumble and debris. His friends were gone. Captured. Taken prisoner. Tommy was the only one left. He was alone.

No, he wasn't alone. There, lying in the middle of this wasteland, was Takuya, an all-too-familiar ring of data circling his chest.

_Don't bother with the child of fire. He is more use to me dead than alive. Leave him. _That was what Ilsemon had said. To Tommy's relief, her order had been followed.

"Takuya!" Rushing forward, Tommy was at his surrogate brother's side in an instant. The first thing he noticed, aside from the visible Fractal Code, was that Takuya was very, very pale, like all the blood had been drained from his veins, leaving nothing but a dry husk. Well, not exactly dry. A sheen of sweat coated the goggle-headed boy's face, as if he were suffering from an intense fever. Thanks to the fire that had flared up around it, Tommy assumed, one of Takuya's arms was covered with red welts, made more noticeable by the pallor of his skin. But all of this combined didn't scare Tommy as much as the wound on his friend's stomach. Takuya's arms were wrapped around this area, but the younger boy could just make out the charred, tattered edge of Takuya's shirt underneath them…

Quickly, Tommy crouched by the older boy's side, further assessing the damage. To his relief, Takuya was breathing, but his breath was shallow, and the action was barely detectable. Tommy pressed his fingers against his friend's neck, just as Takuya had taught him a couple years ago, and tried to detect a pulse. He found it but, like Takuya's breath, it was faint. Biting his lip to calm himself down, the young Warrior of Ice gently removed first Takuya's goggles, then his hat. Next, he raised his hand to Takuya's forehead, confirming what he'd feared. Takuya had a fever, a raging fever. The warmth radiating from the older boy was so intense, in fact, that Tommy had to pull back his hand almost instantly, lest he be burned by the scalding heat.

"Takuya…" This was not good. Takuya may not have been dead, but he was close enough to it. Finally, almost reluctantly, Tommy turned his attention to the wound on his surrogate brother's stomach, preparing for the worst. But he could never have prepared for what he saw.

Tommy easily removed Takuya's arms from their protective positions. The Warrior of Fire was much too weak to put up a fight at this point, and his arms remained limp as Tommy moved them to reveal…

"Oh my gosh…" There was indeed a large hole burned into Takuya's shirt, probably thanks to Duskmon's attack. What Tommy had expected to see was a rather severe burn marring his friend's skin. What he did see were veins. Thousands of thin, black veins bursting forth from a central point on Takuya's stomach, branching out across his flesh. It was like some evil parasite had hooked itself onto Takuya, sucking away his already dwindling energy.

"Could Duskmon's attack…have done this?" That couldn't be right. Being hit by Duskmon's red beams of energy had never been a pleasant experience, but this wasn't one of their side effects. Was this Nina's power working through the dark swordsman? Then again, Duskmon had never hit an actual "human" with this attack before. They had always been in Spirit Evolved states with Duskmon around, but Takuya hadn't yet gotten to that point when the dark Digimon's attack had struck…

"Takuya…" Tommy didn't know what to do. He could treat cuts, bruises, a scrape or two, but not this. This was completely out of his league. This was a job for the older kids, the "adults." They would know what to do right now. They would be able to fix this.

But thanks to Ilsemon, they weren't here now. No, thanks to Tommy, he was on his own. Thanks to Tommy, his friends were probably being tortured at that very moment. Thanks to Tommy, Takuya was going to die, because Tommy was nothing but a useless, helpless, hopeless child.

"Takuya…nii-chan…" Tommy choked out his old nickname for his surrogate brother as the familiar tears began to well up in his eyes, then spill down his cheeks in salty waterfalls. For the first time in a long time, he made no attempt to hide them. What was the point? There was no hiding his nature any longer. He had been using the others as a crutch all this time, drawing strength and confidence from his older companions. No matter what, they always knew what to do. They were the truly courageous ones. Tommy was nothing but a pale imitation of them. Without them, what was he? Just a stupid crybaby who couldn't do this, nor could he pretend to do it anymore. Better if Kouji had stayed instead…

_That's not true, Tommy._ Kumamon's voice echoed through Tommy's head, breaking the boy from his sobs.

"W-What do y-you m-mean, K-Kumamon?" he asked, stuttering heavily. "I-I'm n-nothing but a useless k-kid…"

_Useless?_ Kumamon scoffed at that notion. _Would a useless kid be able to wield my spirit? Would a useless kid have beaten Lucemon?_

"That wasn't just me," Tommy argued. "We all beat Lucemon together."

_Exactly,_ Kumamon replied, warmth saturating his voice. _Your friends couldn't have done that without you. To beat Lucemon, you needed the power of all the spirits. If anyone here is useless, it's me. Alone, I can't do anything. But you could still fight without me, if you had to. And together, we can combine our power to stop any bully. So don't think that you're useless, Tommy. Your friends need you, and so do I._

"Kumamon…" A smile began to spread across Tommy's face as his Digimon's spirit's words reverberated in his mind. Yes, he was needed. Kouji, Zoe, Shino, Kouichi, Dai, Hotaru, JP, Kira, Takuya…they were all counting on him right now. They needed him to get back to the Resistance, to tell Gotsumon what had happened, and then to come save them from Ilsemon. This job wasn't meant for some whiney kid. It was meant for a Legendary Warrior.

Gripping his D-Tector tightly, Tommy let his data, his very essence in this world, appear around his palm. "C'mon, Kumamon. Let's save Takuya."

_Right!_ Kumamon agreed as the two consciousnesses, human and Digimon, merged into one being.

The newly evolved Kumamon didn't waste time. Keeping his senses alert to any possible danger, he raced over to the piece of debris he'd hidden behind and found his large orange hat sitting there, right where he'd left it. Taking a deep breath, the Warrior exhaled an icy wind, creating a frozen patch of ground before him. Then he reached down, breaking small chunks off the ice and placing them inside the hat. When he'd filled it sufficiently with the frozen hunks, he rushed back to Takuya, who actually seemed to be growing paler.

"Hang on, Takuya," Kumamon said gently, placing the improvised ice pack against his friend's burning forehead. The ice began to melt on impact with his skin, but as the bear Digimon held the pack in place, he noticed the muscles in Takuya's face relax into a more peaceful state. But his Fractal Code remained visible…still, Kumamon took this as a good sign, breathing a sigh of relief. "Okay Takuya. Let's get back to camp."

With that, Kumamon Slide Evolved to Korikakumon, a much more ideal choice for carrying his older friend. After grabbing the extra articles of clothing lying about (Takuya's goggles, his hat, Kira's gloves), the beast Digimon lifted Takuya gingerly, being careful to support his friend's limp body with the utmost sensitivity. Once he was satisfied with the boy's placement in his arms, he turned in order to head back to the base. But a Digimon was blocking his path.

Before him stood Wizardmon, looking a bit worse for wear. He must have participated in the battle that had taken place earlier. Did his presence here mean that Ilsemon's forces had overpowered the Resistance?

However, the wizard Digimon didn't look ready to fight. In fact, he held a Digi-Egg out at arm's length, seemingly using it as a sort of peace gesture. "Tommy," he muttered, surprising Korikakumon both with the husky quality of his voice and the fact that Wizardmon knew his name. (Most bad guys just called him "kid.") "Please," he said, holding out his Digi-Egg as if it were some priceless jewel he wished to present to the Warrior. "Please, take this egg. Do what you want with me, but please take this with you. That's all I want…"

With that, Wizardmon fell forward, landing face down on the ground. The small blue Digi-Egg rolled out of his grip as he dropped into unconsciousness, stopping right in front of Korikakumon's clawed foot.

—

"Hey, easy with the poking!" JP complained, glaring at the Hyougamon behind him. Another sharp prod from its ice club quickly shut him up, though he gave his guard another harsh look before glancing at the barely distinguishable forms of his friends standing in similar positions beside him.

After Takuya had been…the rest of the gang was rounded up by Ilsemon's flunkies (Tee hee!) and shuffled inside the RMS. In their dazed states, they hadn't put up much of a fight. Except for Kira. As soon as Ilsemon had given the order to round the gang up, Kira had rushed to Takuya's side, shaking her boyfriend's shoulders in a desperate attempt to wake him. Of course, she hadn't been successful, and Ilsemon had deemed him beyond saving.

Hearing this, Kira had really gone nuts. Even a group of five Gorillamon hadn't been able to restrain her. Finally, though, Duskmon had entered the melee, whacking her across the head from behind and knocking her unconscious. Thanks to her outburst, the guards had bound and gagged her, and she now sat propped against the cool stone wall of the RMS's basement, glaring at the floor.

The rest of the gang was completely unrestrained, but they were in no position to lash out against their captors. Though they still had their D-Tectors, it would be impossible to reach for them and Spirit Evolve before the guards' icicle clubs pierced their bodies, killing them on the spot. This possibility wouldn't have so readily entered the children's thoughts before, but after what had happened to Takuya…

So the gang stood facing the wall, arms raised above their heads in complete surrender. What else was there to do? They'd lost, and they all knew it. All they could do now was comply with Ilsemon's demands and hope for the best. After all, they were in a better situation than Takuya…

The tunnel was poorly lit, and JP could barely distinguish between the different forms of his friends until one of the Hyougamon pulled out a piece of glowing moss, the same substance they'd found the first time they were in the Dark Continent. The greenish phosphorescent light allowed JP to recognize Kouji on his right, head hung in such a way that his face was completely obscured from view. The fact that his friend wasn't at least shooting the guards one of his dagger-like glares was troubling. Even captive, Kouji's pride would never allow him to be this submissive. Then again, he seemed badly shaken by Takuya's…

Figuring he'd save Kouji for later, JP glanced down the row at the rest of the group. Predictably, they harbored mixed looks of horror, shock, or just plain hopelessness. JP took a deep breath, gathering his courage. If there was nothing else he could do, he had to step up and look after his younger friends, making sure they all got through this in one piece. Not only was this his responsibility as their elder; he needed to protect them, especially for Takuya's sake.

Finally, he spoke. "Hey Dai, your shadow kinda looks like a stretched out version of Sonic the Hedgehog." Of course, JP got another poke in the ribs for this comment. "Take it easy, will you? No one said we couldn't talk to each other." The Hyougamon glared at JP a moment longer, but eventually lowered their weapons. Slightly.

Dai, meanwhile, was staring up at the shadow he cast on the wall, a faint chuckle escaping his lips. "Heh, I guess it does look like Sonic. Weird."

"Um, who's Sonic?" Shino asked, giving his friends a curious glance.

JP frowned. "Seriously, Shino? You don't know Sonic the Hedgehog?" Shino shook his head in response.

"Wow," Zoe said, smirking at the Warrior of Wood. "I didn't know you were that sheltered, Shino. We'll need to google Sonic for you, once we get back…"

Realizing what she'd been about to say, Zoe cut herself off, but not before a deep melancholy settled over the group once again.

They stayed engulfed in their own thoughts for what felt like hours, until Dai finally spoke. "I'm sorry about what happened earlier, everyone. I was really rude to you guys, especially you, Zoe, and I didn't mean to be. Sorry."

Zoe stared down at her small friend, smiling gently. "Don't worry about it, Dai. You were obviously set off by…something. I'm honestly just glad that you're okay now."

Dai returned Zoe's smile, reviving some of his normally happy energy. "Thank you." With that, the brief conversation ended in another moment of silence. Not even JP felt the need to break the quiet, mostly because not even he could think what to say anymore. Everything had gone so wrong so quickly, and they all needed time to wrap their minds around the events that had taken place.

"Are we going to be split up?" Like that, Kouichi broke the silence with his muttered question, voicing the fear that all the children were feeling. Alone in the RMS, with a torture-crazy Digimon calling all the shots, deciding their fates; this wasn't a pleasant thought.

Shino's bitter chuckle was Kouichi's only response. "In case you hadn't noticed, we've already been split up," he said, eyes glittering with a strangely hollow light. "First Tommy went missing, then Hotaru was captured, then Takuya was…left behind. We're all that's left, and you can bet your ass Ilsemon's got more surprises in store for us."

"I think you're stealing Kouji's cynical thunder there, Shino," JP stated, directing a smirk at both his friends. Shino gave him an indignant glare and, to JP's relief, so did Kouji.

"So I'm cynical, huh?" the Warrior of Light muttered, smirking to himself. "Well I'll have you know, JP, that I don't think our prospects are so hopeless."

JP cocked his head in slight confusion. "So Mr. Pessimism is being optimistic for once? This, truly, is a sign of the apocalypse."

This comment made the rest of the gang chuckle, while Kouji's frown deepened. "Yeah, ha ha," he said, rolling his eyes. Then, in a more serious tone, he continued, "We're not all that's left, guys. If we can just endure this…someone will come for us."

While the others puzzled over the slight pause in Kouji's statement, the Hyougamon chuckled throatily. "Yeah right!" one guffawed, fangs glowing eerily in the greenish light. "As if you'll ever be able to get out of here! No one escapes from Lady Ilsemon's clutches!"

"Masumon…" JP muttered under his breath, smiling to himself.

"Shut up!" the Hyougamon shouted in response, raising his icicle club above his head…

"Hey, you guys aren't supposed to hurt those kids!"

Suddenly, a voice rang out from a dark end of the hall, halting the Hyougamon mid-attack. It sheepishly lowered its club as a new Digimon stepped into the light. The newcomer resembled an armor-clad centaur, though its feet were clawed, not clad with horse hooves. Clenched in one of its gauntleted hands was a long bow, and strapped to its waist, a sheaf of arrows. A lightning-shaped blade protruded from its black helmet like a horn, completing the whole ensemble.

The centaur Digimon puffed out his chest proudly when his order was followed. "That's better. Now," here he turned his attention toward the gang, knitting his brows in an attempt to look more threatening. "Ilsemon told me to empty out your pockets, so give me all of your obsessions!"

Stunned silence followed Sagittarimon's statement. "Obsessions…?" Shino repeated slowly, giving the centaur Digimon a confused look that was mirrored by Dai and Kira. The rest of the gang just groaned.

"And the filler villains just keep on coming..." Zoe muttered to herself, sighing.

"That bitch did this on purpose," Kouji growled, cursing Ilsemon repeatedly under his breath.

"Hey, quit talking and hand over your obsessions!" Sagittarimon exclaimed, angered by the prisoners' apparent indifference toward him.

"Is 'obsessions' supposed to be a metaphor for something?" Dai wondered, staring up at his new guard. "Oh gosh, are you gonna steal our souls?"

"Day one: our hell has officially begun," JP stated flatly. "Hm, that kinda rhymes. Weird."

—

Wizardmon stared up at the hard-packed earth that lined the entire circumference of his prison. Though he knew this place was his only safe haven against Ilsemon, he couldn't shake the feeling that he'd been buried alive, trapped under this crushing dirt, never to break free of its confines. Not that he wanted to break free, of course. He'd surrendered himself to the Warrior of Ice, and he was prepared to suffer the consequences of that decision. In fact, he'd almost expected to be killed on the spot. But he shouldn't have underestimated the mercy of a child, least of all one of the Legendary Warrior children.

About an hour ago, he'd woken up in this underground cavern, a small bowl of water sitting next to him. Strangely, he was completely unbound, but not unguarded. A constant string of murmurs floated to Wizardmon's ears from outside his cell, most having to do with his eventual fate. One of the guards seemed to be under the impression that he should be executed as soon as possible. The others disagreed, saying he could be a useful source of information to them. After awhile, he just tuned their whispers out. He didn't particularly care what happened now. Gatomon's egg was in safe hands. He'd done what he had to do; he was no longer needed.

Smiling, Wizardmon glanced at his untouched water bowl. He was practically delirious with thirst, but he wouldn't drink. Not unless he found a reason to do so.

Suddenly, a familiar voice rang out in the tunnels, reaching a level of volume that may have broken the sound barrier had it risen higher. "What do you mean, I need an escort? I'm his freakin' sister! I know all his stupid tricks!" Yes, Wizardmon knew this voice very well. Witchmon.

He hadn't been sure whether his sister would come to see him or not, estranged as they were. Maybe she just wanted to yell at him or slap him or something. That certainly fit with her brash nature, not to mention they'd always squabbled as kids. But things were different now. Perhaps she wanted to have a genuine conversation with him. Undeserving as he was, she might even offer him forgiveness for his actions. All Wizardmon knew was that he didn't want to see her.

His wish was not granted, for Witchmon stepped into the cavern moments later, a triumphant expression on her face (triumphant, he assumed, because she'd won the argument with the guards). Wizardmon sat up when she entered, but abruptly turned to face the opposite wall, folding his arms as a show of defiance. "Go away."

He hoped that, for once, his sister would listen to him and leave him be. But of course, Witchmon had never been one for following orders she deemed "stupid." In fact, she scoffed at the notion of going away. "Sorry, Wizzy, you're not getting rid of me that easy."

_What did I tell her about calling me that?_ Wizardmon bit his tongue, keeping himself from speaking his thoughts aloud. He'd just be taking Witchmon's obvious bait, and he had no intention of being sucked into a conversation with her, if that was truly her intent.

"Look, Wizardmon," she said a moment later. "I'm here for a reason, okay? Strictly business. I can get Gotsumon down here if you don't believe he gave the order for me to come." No response. "Fine, don't talk. Just listen to what I have to say for a minute or two.

"Wizardmon…you screwed up. Colossally, humongously, ginormously screwed up. No one here is going to forget the things you did under Ilsemon's command, least of all how you murdered Gaomon. But Gotsumon realizes the significance of you turning yourself over to us. You're a pretty valuable asset right now, bro. If you haven't already heard, most of the Legendary Warrior kids have been captured, all except Takuya and Tommy. Of course, you might have guessed that already without being told."

As a matter of fact, Wizardmon had figured that out. It was Shino's tumult of pain, anger, distress, confusion, every negative feeling imaginable that had finally sapped his strength, after all. The Warrior of Ice and that goggle-headed nuisance (_Takuya: _Seriously, what do I do to make villains hate me so much?) (Maybe it's the goggles.) (_Takuya:_ -_-) had also been the only ones left on the battlefield, giving the wizard Digimon a pretty good idea of what had occurred.

"Anyway," Witchmon continued, "it goes without saying that we could use your inside info right about now to get the kids back. But there's also the chance that, if we start to trust you, you'll just lead us into a trap. So Gotsumon sent me here to figure out what we should do next." Wizardmon realized what this must mean before she stated it aloud. "He put your fate in my hands, being your sister and all. I came here to decide whether you're worth saving, or if there's anything left to save.

"So start pleading your case by telling me what the hell possessed you to serve Ilsemon in the first place." Saying this, Witchmon plopped down beside her brother, obviously prepared to wait for a reply. Wizardmon didn't intend to give her one.

As always, his sister was being a pest. He had always been the calm one, the laid-back one, the one that believed caution outweighed danger. Witchmon didn't agree. She'd repeatedly tried to drag him from one crazy stunt to the next in their youth, agitating him to no end. And that was why they'd had Gatomon. She had been the peacemaker, and only she had been able to calm Witchmon's boundless energy. Her smile was the glue that had kept them together. Thanks to him, they didn't have that anymore. There was no cohesive element binding him to Witchmon. He'd readily cast her off, if given the chance.

But he settled for ignoring her inquiries, fixing his gaze on the floor rather than glance at his adopted sibling. What were "siblings" to Digimon, anyway? No Digimon could ever have an actual "sibling." Not like those human children, whose bonds of blood with their mothers, fathers, brothers, sisters, cousins, all connected them in a way that was inconceivable from a Digimon's perspective. It was a useless web of connections, really, but they were powerful nonetheless. And he could never have that with his remaining "sister." So why bother trying?

Witchmon let silence fall over the cavern while Wizardmon pondered these things, but her patience finally wore out. "Wizardmon, I'm not gonna lie to you. I'm not just doing this for the Resistance; I'm doing this for me. You gotta tell me what's going through your head right now, because I'm not a mind reader. Just tell me…why? What was all this for, how did Gatomon and Impmon get involved…and why was Gatomon killed?"

This statement managed to startle Wizardmon, and before he could stop himself, his eyes were locked with Witchmon's. How could she know about Gatomon? No one else had been around…but if she had seen him, then this was nothing but a formality. He was a cold-blooded murderer. His fate was sealed.

"That Digi-Egg…" Witchmon muttered contemplatively, in a subdued tone she didn't often use. "The little blue Digi-Egg Tommy brought along with you…it's Gatomon's, isn't it? Want to know how I know?" He didn't particularly care to know, but she went on anyway. "Well, when I heard Tommy had gotten here, I rushed over to find out what had happened with the fiery blaze of doom. No one would let me through, since they didn't think I should know about you yet, then someone handed me a Digi-Egg and told me to take it down to Swanmon immediately. So I was running along with the egg when suddenly, it gave me a kick. Little tiny Gatomon gave me a kick. I've never heard of a baby in a Digi-Egg doing that before, and when Gotsumon told me you were here, I put two and two together. So now I really just want to know how she died, and why. Can you at least tell me that, Wizardmon?"

As an answer, Wizardmon chuckled. This soon turned into full-blown laughter as relief flooded through him. He hadn't felt this good in awhile, but Witchmon's explanation filled him with an unexplainable happiness. She didn't know what he'd done, she'd just guessed about Gatomon through her own warped intuition. That was just so Witchmon; no logic whatsoever, just feeling.

With a slight jolt, Wizardmon realized something. Contrary to his earlier conclusion, he did care about Witchmon. Of course he did. How could he have thought otherwise? Gatomon wasn't the only thing that had kept them all together. Even without her, he'd stick by Witchmon's side, and she by his. They were siblings, despite their bickering (perhaps even because of their bickering). And besides, Witchmon always knew how to make him laugh.

Witchmon didn't find her explanation quite as funny as her brother. "Hey, it's not something to laugh at! I was being serious and everything!"

"Witchmon," Wizardmon said, finally giving in to his sister. "I almost hate to tell you this, but baby Digimon kick inside their eggs all the time. It's not an uncommon thing."

"Well…how would you know that?" Witchmon retorted, blushing slightly with embarrassment. "Last time I checked, you weren't a Digi-Egg expert!"

"Check with someone else, then. I'm sure they'll give you the same answer," Wizardmon said, smiling superiorly. Before Witchmon could snap back at him, his mirth faded. "But you're right. It's Gatomon's Digi-Egg."

There was a brief pause as Witchmon digested this news. Her eyes began to sparkle in the dim light of the cavern, but she held back any outpouring of emotion by biting her lip. "You know, I was kinda hoping you'd tell me something different. But I guess my instincts were right; Gatomon's…dead."

"I'm sorry." Wizardmon couldn't say more than this. Seeing the pain in his sister's eyes, his mouth became dry as a bone. He knew that she deserved to know why this had happened, or at least what had happened, but once he told her everything, there would be no turning back. She'd have him killed almost immediately, and he wouldn't contest her decision. Of course he deserved it, but still…

Witchmon's lips lifted in a faint smile. "Wow, it only took you about fifteen minutes to actually apologize to me. Nice, Wizzy, nice."

"Witchmon…" He had to do it. Witchmon deserved this explanation. So long she'd waited, alone, for him to return, and he never had. Then she'd learned of his betrayal…he'd made her cry…only Gatomon had been able to save them, and now she was…

"Hey, take it easy, bro," Witchmon cautioned, noticing Wizardmon's trembling limbs. "Listen, if it's too hard to talk about, we can save the explanations for later. About time I checked back on Taki, anyway…"

"Don't leave!" Wizardmon reached out and grabbed his sister's arm, determined to keep her here. He succeeded, and she stood silently above him, awaiting his explanation. Taking a deep breath, he finally said it. "Witchmon…I killed Gatomon."

With that, Wizardmon let his hand fall to his side, rising to his feet in the same motion. This was it. Witchmon wouldn't forgive him, not for this. Now she hated him, just like she should. Maybe his death would be quick, even painless. He'd tried to make Gatomon's death painless; he'd tried to make her hate him; he'd tried to make her abandon him…

"Why the hell'd you do that?"

Wizardmon's head shot up. This hadn't been the reaction he'd expected. Witchmon wasn't angry, nor did she look down on him with contempt. Her expression was reserved as she calmly waited for an answer to her question. It seemed too good to be true, but she was actually willing to hear his explanation, even after what he'd done.

Witchmon may have been able to restrain her tears, but Wizardmon had no such luck. "Hey, it's alright," Witchmon muttered, sinking to one knee before her shorter brother. "Okay, maybe that question was a little harsh. Let me try again…uh, can you please inform me of the intentions behind said act?"

Wizardmon smirked. "Sis," he said through his tears, wrapping his arms tightly around his remaining sister. "I really missed you."

Stunned by Wizardmon's sudden outpouring of emotion, it took Witchmon a moment to respond. "Me too, bro," she finally replied, returning her brother's hug. "Me too."

Meanwhile, outside the cavern, Dragramon and the three Gekomon guards were peaking around the cloth-covered opening, spying on the pair of siblings. "Aw," the amphibian Digimon cooed softly, moved by the scene before them.

Dragramon just smiled. "Good for you, Witchy," she muttered, a slightly bitter note in her voice. "Good for you."

—

"Duskmon, where are we going?" Renamon tried yet again to get an answer out of her companion, but her attempts at striking a conversation remained futile. All she could do was follow after Duskmon as he rushed through the stone basement of the RMS, headed who-knew-where. Just twenty minutes ago they had aided Ilsemon in the capture of the remaining Digidestined, leaving the one Duskmon had attacked to die.

Then again, if Ilsemon really had wanted the boy dead, she would have finished him off then and there. Leaving loose ends dangling wasn't her mistress's style, yet this proved two things to Renamon. One, that Ilsemon truly did consider these children too fun to kill, at least for now. Two, that she was willing to let the child live, but didn't want him interfering with her plans. She'd crushed his D-Tector, after all, in the hopes that he wouldn't find a way to repair it. It hadn't stayed broken for long; however, that boy wasn't in any shape to fight now, thanks in no small part to Duskmon.

_Why?_ Renamon silently asked this question again, not daring to speak it out loud. For one, she didn't want to upset her friend. He'd been so shell-shocked after the Warrior of Fire had fallen; his eyes had remained locked on the boy's body, as if everything around him had ceased to exist, or ceased to matter. Strangely, Ilsemon's command to "take the girl alive," referring to the struggle there had been to restrain the Warrior of Water, had snapped Duskmon from his trance, at least partially. Renamon hadn't been able to assist in the girl's capture, since she'd already grabbed hold of one of the children, but Duskmon didn't need help. Putting the Gorillamon to complete shame, he simply walked toward the skirmish, positioned himself behind the girl, and struck her with the back of his arm, sending her into a brief state of unconsciousness, long enough for her to be bound and restrained.

After this, the swordsman's gaze had returned to the boy, and his short venture back into reality came to an end. That is, until Ilsemon gave another command. "Bring the children into the RMS and line them up against the wall. I shall find them a…proper cell in which to be kept. And the one I captured earlier is probably dying to know what's happened here. I should go and inform him…"

Again, Duskmon sprang to life at Ilsemon's words, lifting Kira into his arms and following the Gorillamon into the RMS. Renamon noticed his movements were a bit jerky, and his eyes were a murky, dull color, not their usual blood red tint. Something was wrong with him, that much was obvious.

After depositing their captives in the appropriate area, Renamon had grabbed Duskmon's arm and dragged him down the hall. He'd gone without a fight, without any reaction at all. After several long minutes of prodding, life had finally begun to return to her friend's eyes, but what she saw in them wasn't comforting. Duskmon's expression…she couldn't have put a name to it, even if she tried. But it was heart-wrenching nonetheless.

He'd noticed Renamon moments later, and had wasted no time in wrapping his arms around her tightly, without checking to make sure they weren't seen, not caring who knew about their friendship. He needed her, and he wouldn't be denied his right to have her.

Just as Renamon had tuned into the wonderful sound of Duskmon's steadily beating heart, he released her, taking a step back. Then he motioned forward with his arm, as if beckoning her to follow him. This seemed to be the case, as he took off down the hall a second later. Renamon was quite confused by this point, but she decided to follow the swordsman. Perhaps he'd give her some answers for her questions.

_Why did you attack that boy?_ It didn't make sense to Renamon, no matter which way she looked at it. _Ilsemon didn't order you to; she was content to let be what would be. He didn't try to attack us; he didn't even complete his transformation. Why would you attempt to kill him so needlessly?_

_"Duskmon is not a creature to be pitied."_

Ilsemon's warning flashed through Renamon's mind. For once, she had ignored her mistress's command. She had pitied Duskmon. But had she been right to pity him, or were her feelings misplaced? He hadn't always been the Duskmon she knew now. Not so long ago, he'd been a ruthless killer, slicing through whatever he was ordered to slice. He'd said he didn't want to be that anymore, but was this a sincere wish, or was he just toying with Renamon's deeply-buried feelings? Had he really changed? Could he change?

Only one thing was certain to Renamon. She trusted Duskmon. She didn't believe that the past few days had been an act. In her friend's eyes there was nothing but earnestness, of that she was sure. So she followed him out of the RMS, remaining faithful to her instincts. _Duskmon is not a creature to be hated._

She realized where they were headed as soon as Duskmon made a sharp right, headed for the side of their base. He wanted to check on that child, perhaps even help him, all against Ilsemon's orders. Despite this, Renamon felt exhilarated.

Duskmon stopped short when he reached the spot, causing his fox-like companion to bump into him from behind. It was a clumsy mistake on her part, something she wasn't prone to, but Duskmon got her distracted. He turned to her briefly, and Renamon swore she could detect a hint of amusement in his eyes. But that vanished when he finally spoke. "He's gone."

Renamon didn't know what to make of that statement at first, but when he pointed toward the battle-scarred rumble, she instantly understood. The boy had disappeared. A quick look around the area told her this. Even if he'd regained consciousness, he couldn't have gotten far in his weakened state. "He may be behind one of these rocks," Renamon said, indicating the surrounding debris. "We could look for him…"

Suddenly, the fox Digimon found herself at sword point. Duskmon had turned and, in one swift motion, pressed the tip of his jagged blade against her throat. One small prod, and her life's data would be rent from her body faster than she could blink.

Yet Duskmon didn't look murderous. Instead, she saw desperation in his gaze. He lowered the weapon from her throat, but only slightly. It was enough not to have it at such close proximity to her vitals. Still, it was apparent that she had become Duskmon's hostage, and he soon explained why.

"You're going to stay here until I'm finished talking. I'm going to tell you all the gruesome details of my existence. I'm going to explain to you how I took a demented pleasure from murdering countless innocent creatures for no real reason. I'm going to show you my Beast Spirit, since you haven't seen it before. Then I'll dare you to find one redeeming quality in me. And if you're smart, which I'm sure you are, you won't."

—

"And that's how I ended up working for Ilsemon." With that, Sagittarimon finished his long, convoluted answer to the question, "Why the hell are you here?" JP quickly regretted he'd asked. The gang had mostly tuned their guard out after listening to ten minutes of his rambling. Except, of course, for Dai, who had paid careful attention to the entire spiel.

"That was a very…interesting story, Mr. Sagittarimon," Dai said, smiling up at the centaur Digimon.

"Aw, just call me Sagittarimon. All my friends do," Sagittarimon replied, returning Dai's smile.

"You have friends?" Kouji said in mock astonishment.

"Of course I do!" Sagittarimon shouted, glaring through the bars of the gang's cell. "I have lots and lots of friends!"

"Sure you do," Kouji muttered, rolling his eyes.

"Kouji, stop antagonizing him," Zoe admonished, sighing heavily. "It's not worth it."

Though he would actually have gained great pleasure from poking fun at their mentally challenged guard, Kouji held his tongue for Zoe's sake. She was in quite a bit of pain at the moment, and the last thing he wanted to do was make it worse. After being stripped of their "obsessions," the gang had been thrown into this cramped stone cell. It couldn't have been built to hold more than two or three Digimon at a time, yet all seven of them had been stuffed into this space. They were all bunched stifling close to one another, but at least they hadn't been separated. That was well worth the discomfort.

The only problem was that Shino and Kira needed more room to work on Zoe's arm. Kouji, Dai, and JP had all pressed themselves against the opposite wall, trying not to get in the way of the proceedings. Shino could fashion a split from his jacket and some sticks that Sagittarimon, oddly enough, had brought at their request, and Kira had set her fair amount of broken appendages, so they'd gone to work immediately.

Setting the bone had been the hardest part, both for Zoe and Kira. Realizing that she'd left her gloves on the ground outside, Kira had to work bare-handed, her palms still swollen and red from earlier. She'd refused to complain, though it must have been painful. Still, Zoe had probably been in even greater pain. However, like Kira, she'd borne it without complaint, contenting herself with holding Kouichi's hand in a death-grip as her bone was put back into place. They'd worried when Zoe's Fractal Code had flared up a few times during the procedure, but it had always disappeared seconds later, so they decided it wasn't something to trouble themselves over.

"And that should do it," Shino stated, firmly tugging on the ends of his knot to make sure his jacket was securely tied in place. Zoe's arm was now wrapped in a decent-looking splint, much to everyone's relief. Grinning sheepishly, Shino added, "Sorry I don't have a lollipop for you or anything."

Before Zoe could give a witty retort, Kouichi had his arms wrapped around her waist, pulling her into a kind of awkward half-hug. He would have pressed her tightly against him if this simple action wouldn't cause him severe discomfort that Shino had no idea how to cure. But he'd content himself knowing that Zoe was feeling at least a bit better.

Zoe, for her part, was surprised by the sudden affection and ended up blushing because of it. "Or maybe you don't need a lollipop," Shino mumbled, feeling more than a little uncomfortable.

"I don't think that's the kind of sugar she's looking for, Shino, if you know what I mean," JP said, winking conspiratorially. Then he turned, expecting Kouji to roll his eyes and call him a fool or something to that effect.

Instead, Kouji's gaze was locked on his brother, and he didn't seem to be paying particular attention to anyone but him. Several seconds passed before he said, "You've got something on your mind, Kouichi."

Silence fell over the group as they realized that a twin thing was taking place. Kouichi didn't respond for at least a minute, and Kouji was on the verge of repeating his statement when his brother finally said, "You're right. I do."

Without releasing his grip on Zoe, he asked her a question. "Zoe, do you remember what happened back in our world, when Ilsemon took control of Kouji?" He added a quick "sorry" for his brother's benefit, then awaited an answer.

Zoe wasn't quite sure what he was getting at, but replied affirmatively. "Of course I remember that. Why do you ask?"

"Because of what happened to me that night," Kouichi explained. "I'm still a little fuzzy on the details myself, but you said I was mumbling about remembering something, and then I passed out. Now, who do we know that manipulates memories?"

"Oh, I know!" Sagittarimon said excitedly, butting into their conversation. "Ilsemon can do that!"

"Uh…yes," Kouichi muttered, deciding to humor Sagittarimon, who was obviously pleased that he'd known the answer. "I'm surprised I didn't think of this before, but it makes perfect sense now. She started losing her grip on me while she was working so hard to unhinge Kouji…but anyway, she finally let me know the truth."

"What truth?" Zoe asked, beginning to get a little apprehensive. "Kouichi, what are you getting at? What did Ilsemon do to you?"

"What did she make you remember?" Kouji inquired calmly, remaining much more level-headed than the others, who seemed thoroughly perplexed by all this.

Kouichi took a long, deep breath before replying. "Guys…I think Ilsemon's been using us from the beginning."

"Do you honestly mean to say that you hadn't realized this until now?"

The gang's heads shot up simultaneously, recognizing that bitingly cold voice. Outside their cell stood Ilsemon, come to check on her prisoners, or perhaps to "play" with them…

Instantly, they stiffened, which didn't evade Ilsemon's notice. "Ah, children, that is the appropriate response to have in my presence," she said, smiling wickedly. "However, I didn't come for 'those' purposes. Your tall friend makes an excellent toy, so I don't think I'll be needing your services for quite a while."

Horror descended over the group when they realized who Ilsemon was talking about. "Leave him alone!" Dai shouted, suddenly slamming himself against the bars, reaching through them toward his adversary.

Kouji and JP soon jumped into action, grabbing their friend and hauling him back into the cell, as far from Ilsemon as they could possibly get him. Unlike before, Dai was quick to calm his anger, at least to a degree, and didn't put up a fight as his friends restrained him.

Ilsemon watched this spectacle with a calm expression on her face. "Foolish boy," she scoffed, eyes mercilessly trained on Dai. "You'll kill your cousin yet, the way he dotes on you. But don't be upset, child; the Warrior of Steel was always meant to be what he is, just a shield for the rest of you."

"How do you know?" JP retorted, glaring defiantly at his captor. "How can you be so confident about our destinies and what was 'meant to be' and all that crap? You don't own us."

JP's statement actually caused Ilsemon to chuckle slightly, eyes sparkling with delight. "Dear boy, I don't believe you've fully comprehended what your friend has told you. Let me elaborate for him; I've been subtly influencing your lives since the day each of you were born."

—

_madjack89:_ Wow, that was longer than I intended it to be. Then again, a lot of re-writing went into getting this chapter update-worthy, so I guess it's all good.

_Takuya:_ Wow, I'm actually not dead. Sweet!

_madjack89:_ Yeah, I'm not killing you off. You're too awesome for that.

_Kira:_ Damn right he is! Taki!_ *hugs Takuya*_

_Takuya: *hugs Kira back*_

_Zoe:_ Aw, that's sweet!

_madjack89:_ Yup! You know what else is sweet? I finally gave Tommy some attention in this chapter!

_Tommy:_ Does this mean I get to be more important now?

_madjack89:_ Yes it does!

_Tommy:_ Yay!

_Kouji:_ That's not necessarily a good thing.

_JP:_ -_- Quit being a buzz-kill, man.

_Kouji:_ Hmph.

_madjack89:_ Hey Kouji, know what else is sweet?

_Kouji:_ …No.

_madjack89:_ Oh, I'm sure you do!

_Kouji:_ …I don't.

_madjack89:_ Here, let me help you; the wind in the Digital World…

_Kouji:_ Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!

_madjack89:_ Oh, how I love this abridged series! ^_^

_Shino:_ So, is Wizardmon a good guy now?

_madjack89:_ Yup, pretty much.

_Wizardmon:_ Looks like we're comrades now, comrade. Woohoo.

_Takuya:_ Not yet. First we have to give you the initiation.

_JP:_ Heh heh heh…

_Wizardmon:_ Um, what initiation?

_Zoe: *sigh*_ The initiation for people who switch sides.

_Kouichi:_ Guys, don't do THAT to him.

_Takuya:_ Hey, if you went through it, he has to go through it too!

_JP: _I got the monkey wrench and the light bulb!

_Takuya:_ Sweet…like the Digital World wind! ;)

_Kouji:_ -_- I hate you all.

_madjack89:_ Okay, while they do that, I'll end the chapter. See ya next time, everybody!

_Wizardmon:_ I'm in trouble, aren't I?

_Kouichi:_ After awhile, it stops haunting your nightmares.

_Wizardmon:_ T_T


	42. Ch 42: Give and Take

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 42: Give and Take**

_madjack89:_ Hey there, my peeps! So, uh…new update!

_Everyone:_ -_-

_madjack89:_ Yeah…how's everyone been doing?

_JP:_ Oh, we're just dandy.

_madjack89:_ I can't tell whether you're being sarcastic or not, so let's just get on with the commentary! Well, it's summer, and you know what that means!

_Shino:_ Um, Frontier 02 turns four years old?

_madjack89:_ Holy crap, it does? *_goes to check*_ Holy crap, it does!

_Kouji:_ Nice of you to update in honor of the occasion.

_madjack89: *smacks Kouji*_

_Kouji:_ …Ow.

_madjack89:_ Wow, I've been writing this for four whole years…

_Kira:_ Yeah…so, update?

_madjack89:_ Okay, okay, just let me answer some reviews.

_*break*_

_**Author's Note:**_** I promise that I will answer each of your reviews personally to make up for the fact that I'm not answering them right now. You see, I'm going on vacation tomorrow, and I had limited internet time as it was to upload this. Sorry to all you reviewers out there for the delay! I really do appreciate the time you take to read and comment on my work! Thank you in advance!**

_*break*_

_madjack89:_ Are you guys ready for the chapter?

_Everyone:_ Yes!

_madjack89:_ Wow, either you guys are really excited or really anxious.

_Takuya:_ No, we've just been really bored waiting for you to update.

_madjack89: *glares*_

_Takuya:_ Uh…Chief did it! _*runs*_

_Kouichi:_ -_- Why?

—

No doubt about it; this was the best Takuya had ever felt.

He didn't know where he was, and he didn't feel particularly inclined to open his eyes and find out. His whereabouts weren't of great importance at the moment, because he didn't care what place he'd find himself in if he tried to look around. Wherever he was, he was happy.

There were some details of his surroundings, however, that he did note. First, he was lying on solid earth. (In his elated state, he could very well have been floating.) Grass or some such weeds were tickling his bare arms and neck, but not in an unpleasant way. A soft breeze blew around him, rich with the scents of flowers. From this sensory information, he guessed he was in some grassy field or meadow covered in all sorts of delicate plant life. But not even the promise of this beautiful landscape could break Takuya from his lethargic state.

_Can't I rest for once?_ He had worked so hard, been through so much; this break had been a long time in coming, and he planned to take full advantage of it. _Let someone else save the world for a change…_

_"Taki, get up!"_

He was just a kid, after all. Why couldn't adults be handling this, or at least other Digimon? Why did the pressure always hang over him and his friends?

_"C'mon, Taki, you have to get up! You can't let them beat you!"_

For once, he didn't care whether he'd been beaten or not; it didn't matter anymore. Lucemon would be revived and destroy the Digital World, but he and his friends could still go home. So what the hell were they fighting for?

_"TAKUYA KANBARA, GET YOUR LAZY ASS UP!"_

"Cut it out, Kira," he mumbled groggily, clamping his hands firmly over his ears. He didn't want to hear this. She was ruining everything. "I'm tryin' to get some sleep…"

_"Taki…don't die…please…"_

"Die?" This statement did manage to grab Takuya's attention. Rubbing his sleep-filled eyes, he slowly pushed himself into a sitting position, mostly to calm Kira's fears. "Kira, I'm not dying. In fact, I'm completely…"

As his blurry vision finally cleared, Takuya got his first good look at his surroundings, and they weren't at all what he'd thought they would be. There was no field of flowers; he was sitting in the middle of a desolate landscape, everything coated in a thick layer of ashes. There was even a thin dusting of ash clinging to his clothing, which he brushed off as best he could. The cool breeze he'd thought he felt was replaced by sweltering heat, and Takuya realized that something besides ash was encircling him; he was trapped within a ring of flames. As he watched the fiery tendrils reaching toward the blood red sky, he began to understand that everything he'd felt or smelled or heard up to that point had been an illusion, one that he'd fallen for hook, line, and sinker. "…screwed."

"Damn right you are." Takuya instantly recognized the voice coming from behind him. It was similar to his own, only deeper in tone. And it was filled with anger.

"Agunimon..." For the first time since meeting his legendary partner, Takuya was scared. It was an odd, out of place feeling, like looking in the mirror and being frightened of your own reflection, but accusations had laced Agunimon's words, creating a tone of voice that Takuya had never heard the Warrior of Fire use. Not when addressing him, anyway.

"Why won't you face me? Are you too cowardly even for that?" Takuya felt as if he couldn't turn at this point, but Agunimon wouldn't allow him the luxury of remaining where he sat. Like a mother cat carrying her kitten, Takuya was lifted by the collar of his shirt from behind. He tensed as the hand gripping him swung his body around, handling him as if he were a rag doll. Then his eyes met the light blue gaze of Agunimon, though Takuya found it hard to believe that this could be his legendary spirit. The warmth that usually radiated from every inch of the Warrior was gone, replaced by an icy stiffness. Takuya shivered from the cold.

Agunimon didn't bat at eyelash at his partner's discomfort. "Oh, are you frightened of my wrath? Do you think that I should pity you after what you did?"

"What do you mean?" Takuya asked, his usually cheerful voice becoming small and meek. "What are you mad about?"

This statement formed a small crack in Agunimon's frozen exterior. Through this crack emanated his true rage. Takuya noticed the sudden change, but could do nothing when he was dropped roughly to the ground, crumpling into a heap. Agunimon proceeded to reach down and lock Takuya's shoulders into a tight grip, wrenching the goggle-head to his feet. Still held in this vice-like grasp, Takuya watched warily as Agunimon crouched in front of him, fire burning in the Warrior's gaze. This rage had to be released, and it soon was.

"I told you to stop. I warned you, and you wouldn't listen to me! Didn't I tell you to calm down? But of course, you ignored me. Of course! You were too caught up in the thick of battle, all too willing to let Ilsemon's actions get to you. Well, you know what, Takuya? We all hate Ilsemon! Hell, I killed that psychopath myself during our first battle against Lucemon! But I'm controlling myself now, because I know that she will take any opportunity to exploit my anger. I tried to make you understand, but you obviously don't have the capacity to control yourself, and now look where it's gotten us! You could have died! In fact, everyone could have died! Do you understand, Takuya? Everyone!"

Takuya had braced himself for Agunimon's rage, but not his words. Those cut him, and they cut deep. Every accusation was a new barb digging into his body, sending raw impulses to his mind where all the words, all the pain, were burned into his psyche. This wasn't like Agunimon. Even at his worst moments, Agunimon had always been there for Takuya with words of encouragement. Not like these stinging comments. No, Agunimon was furious now. At Takuya. He hated him. Agunimon hated him.

Takuya's mouth was bone dry; he couldn't have formed a coherent response to Agunimon's criticism if he tried. Unfortunately, his silence fueled the Warrior's anger. "Oh, have you finally realized your limitations? In case you haven't, let me spell it out for you."

Suddenly, Takuya was on the ground. He didn't know whether Agunimon had thrown him down, or if he'd fallen himself. Either way, his cheek stung. And the Warrior of Fire was standing above him, angry flames spurting from his gauntlets.

"You…"

Agunimon's fist came down hard, harder than it would have if the blow had been anticipated. But it hadn't, and it left Takuya sprawled on the ground. Now both his cheeks were throbbing.

"…are…"

Through jerky, spasmodic movements, Takuya was on his feet. Agunimon stood before him, and a wall of fire behind. There was no fleeing this nightmare. He had to accept his Spirit's words, no matter how painfully true they were.

"…human!"

"I know!" Finally, Takuya found his voice, just as tears escaped his eyes. Agunimon had said it. The one thing he'd never imagined the Warrior would say to him. That nagging doubt that had always plagued his mind. "I know…"

The last thing Takuya wanted was to cry so pathetically in front of his partner, but he couldn't have stopped the flood if he'd tried. Everything the Warrior had said was true. He hadn't listened. He'd stupidly pushed ahead, believing that an abnormally large amount of dumb luck would help him overcome his enemies, like last time. But this was more than just understanding that the Digital World wasn't a game. This was coming to terms with the fact that, even with all the Legendary Warriors together, and with all the power the ten of them possessed, he and the others were only human. Beneath all the armor and bravado, they were just a bunch of fragile human children. They weren't like Digimon. They wouldn't come back as Digi-Eggs. When they died, they died. No second chances. No more miracles. Just…the end.

"Takuya…" Agunimon's eyes began to soften, then glisten, as he witnessed his partner's grief. There were bruises beginning to form beneath the goggle-head's eyes, bruises that Agunimon realized he had caused. Crossing the gap between them, the Warrior wrapped Takuya gently in his arms. "Takuya…I…I didn't mean to…I'm so sorry…"

Takuya said nothing, just leaned against the Warrior and soaked in his warmth. This was the comfort he had always received from Agunimon. But it was tainted now, because he knew the truth. The Warrior of Fire no longer believed in him.

_Takuya…?_

"Takuya…we never meant for this to happen. You weren't supposed to be able to trigger that failsafe."

_Can you hear me, Takuya?_

"I shouldn't have done this…I should never have gotten you involved. We were all so selfish…we didn't want to disappear…"

_Guys, I think he's waking up! Takuya?_

"Can you ever…"

_C'mon, Takuya, open your eyes._

_…forgive us…_

"Yeah, Takuya, that's it. Just a little more."

_…for ruining your lives?_

Slowly, Takuya managed to pull his eyelids open. He was grateful for the dim lighting in the cavern, making it easier for his vision to adjust. But what really caught his attention was the younger boy staring anxiously down at him, a damp cloth in his hands. The boy soon set the cloth down, waving a hand tentatively in front of his friend's eyes. "Takuya…?"

It took a moment, but Takuya managed to bring the boy's name to his lips. "Tommy."

Tommy's face lit up with a smile. "You're awake…you're really awake this time! Hey, could you two go get Gotsumon and the others for me?"

"Tommy?" Takuya tried to lift his head when his friend's face moved outside his field of vision, but he quickly realized that he couldn't. In fact, he couldn't move his body at all. It was like he was under some type of anesthesia; he could see and hear everything that was going on, but he couldn't feel his limbs.

Hearing the distress in Takuya's voice, Tommy returned to his surrogate brother's side. "I'm here, Takuya. I'm not going anywhere."

"Why…can't I…move?" Takuya had to force the words from his throat, and still they came out as mere whispers.

Tommy's smile drooped. "You…you were hurt. I'm not exactly sure what she did to you, but you were beaten up pretty badly. And then Duskmon…"

"Duskmon…?" It took a moment, but Takuya managed to slowly piece together the details of their failed ambush on Ilsemon. Had it failed, though? Judging from his surroundings, he was back in the Resistance base. Did that mean they'd been able to escape? And why was Tommy the only one here? Tommy…

"Tommy…you're okay." That's right. They hadn't been able to find him in the rubble. Even Ilsemon had assumed he was dead. But he never should have doubted his little buddy. "Where were you when we were getting our butts kicked, buddy?"

Tommy chuckled at that, bringing a smile to Takuya's lips as well. "Let's just say I was stuck between a rock and a hard place."

Takuya had no idea what that meant, but his thoughts were suddenly interrupted when Witchmon and Dragramon stormed in. "Takuya!"

They were at the goggle-head's side in an instant, gazing anxiously down at him. "So he's really awake this time, Tommy?" Witchmon asked, anxiously poking Takuya's arm. To his relief, he felt the slight pressure of her finger on his skin.

"He's not just mumbling about something or other in his sleep?" Dragramon added, eyeing Tommy incredulously.

"Geez, you're treating him like the boy who cried wolf," Takuya said, rolling his eyes at the duo.

Speaking of Digital duos, Takuya soon received two more visitors. "Takuya!" Bokomon's voice filled the cavern, and then the little white Digimon was sitting on top of the goggle-head, one giant eye peering at him through a magnifying glass. Neemon, as always, was close behind his companion, but when the yellow rabbit Digimon hopped onto Takuya's stomach…

The feeling came back to Takuya's torso all at once. Unfortunately, he didn't have the energy to scream, and the only indications of his discomfort were his wide eyes and clenched teeth. The pain soon shot from a central point on his stomach, spreading throughout his limbs in agonizing waves. His vision blurred, and he could feel himself slipping back into the dark…when the pain suddenly began to ebb.

Slowly, Takuya managed to open an eye, revealing two more familiar faces crouched beside him; Gotsumon and Masumon. Gotsumon, with Tommy's assistance, was trying to keep Bokomon from snapping his companion's waistband into next week.

"Look what you've done now, you ignorant buffoon!" Bokomon shouted at the yellow rabbit, who lowered his ears in apparent shame. "Takuya has just awoken, and this is how you choose to welcome him back?"

"Bokomon, it's okay," Masumon said gently, noticing Takuya's half-open eyes. "Hello there, sleepyhead. We missed you."

"Yeah," Takuya mumbled, lifting his arm to clear his blurry vision. When he raised it, however, it began to sting. Then burn. "Ow!" His arm was back on the ground in an instant, wrapped protectively in bandages. The others all scrambled to help him again, but Takuya was preoccupied by one of his many nagging questions. "I'm beaten up pretty bad, huh? I mean, I can't even move my arm. Is it broken?"

Tommy shook his head. "No, you didn't have any broken bones. Mostly some bruising and…well…burns."

"That's why I'm…" Takuya glanced at his bandaged limb. "But how the hell did I get so…I don't even remember how I got here."

"That's not surprising," Gotsumon said, releasing a teary-eyed Bokomon. "You were half dead when Tommy carried you back. Do you remember anything from your fight with Ilsemon?"

"Bits and pieces," Takuya muttered, delving deep into his foggy memories. "We were getting our asses handed to us, that's for sure. Sorry we couldn't beat her, Gotsumon."

"Doesn't matter," Gotsumon replied tersely. "I'm just glad that you're okay. At least two of you are…"

"Shush!" Witchmon suddenly clamped a hand over Gotsumon's mouth, blocking his next statement. In a gentler voice, she added, "I know you're worried about THAT, but let Taki rest for now. He needs it."

Takuya had never seen Witchmon so stern with her crush, nor had he expected Gotsumon to comply so readily with her demands. It made him wonder exactly what "THAT" was. But before he got the chance to ask, Masumon spoke. "Takuya, according to Tommy, you…well, you snapped."

"You mean…" Was this the news they were trying to protect him from? "Did I hurt someone?"

"No, it wasn't like that," Tommy said reassuringly. "You just kinda had a fiery power explosion. I guess that's how you got all burned up, especially your arm."

"You also had a raging fever for a day or so," Dragramon added.

"A day or so? You mean I've been unconscious for a day or so?" Takuya asked, beginning to panic slightly. How long had he been here? Days? Weeks? Months? Ilsemon could have done any number of things in that time.

"Four days, to be exact," Dragramon replied. The number filled Takuya with dread. Four days he'd been lying here, wasting the medical supplies Shino had brought with them…Shino. The rest of his friends. None of them were here except for Tommy, not even Kira.

"Guys." Takuya almost feared to ask the question, but it was too late to turn back. He had to know. "Where are the others?"

Silence. Then Bokomon started to bawl, and Neemon seemed more upset than ever. Gotsumon, Witchmon, Dragramon, none of them would meet his eyes. Not even Tommy could look at him, and instead fixed his gaze on the dirt floor.

Masumon was the one who finally spoke, though it seemed to pain her to do it. "We can't keep this from him forever. Takuya, I'm so sorry, but…your friends have been captured by Ilsemon."

—

"Let's hear it for day four of our imprisonment, gang!" JP announced, a sickly sweet amount of boisterous enthusiasm in his tone. "And guess what we're gonna do today. Nothing!"

"How are you keeping track of the days?" Shino asked with a hint of curiosity. "I pretty much lost all sense of time when we first stepped onto this warped continent."

JP shrugged in response, though that wasn't easy with Kouji and Shino pressed against him on both sides. "I'm just making a not-so-educated guess. Hey Dai, why don't you ask your new friend how long we've been here when he gets back?"

"Sure!" Dai nodded a little too eagerly, probably to make up for his lack of animated behavior over the past few days. Then again, he wasn't the only one who'd been bitten by the brooding bug. Ilsemon had given them all something to think about when she'd finally revealed her involvement in Lucemon's first resurrection. JP had been working quadruple overtime to lighten the depressing mood, and still he could only get Shino and Dai to respond to him on a regular basis.

Today, however, Zoe entered the conversation. "Man, I'm starving," she groaned, rubbing her bottomless pit of a stomach. "Are you sure they cleaned out your entire chocolate supply, JP?"

"Sad to say they did, Zee," JP replied for the fiftieth time. After about two days spent in this cramped cell, it became apparent to the gang that they weren't going to be fed anytime soon. However, since Ilsemon wanted to keep them alive, she did provide them a little bowl of water at regular intervals. At some point their teenage appetites would need to be satisfied. Unfortunately for them, Sagittarimon had really taken ALL of their "obsessions," even JP's chocolate horde.

"I still can't believe they actually got all of it," Shino muttered half to himself. "I mean, you practically materialize chocolate from thin air. I didn't think there was a limit."

"Yeah, let me just conjure up a double cheeseburger while I'm at it," JP said sarcastically, rolling his eyes.

"Please stop talking about food," Zoe whined, laying her head against her knees. "I swear, cannibalism seems to be a decent option right about now."

"If we do that, we're eating Shino first," JP replied, smirking.

Shino frowned. "Why do I have to be the first sacrifice?"

"Tis the will of the tribe, my friend," JP said solemnly. "Though you're a little too scrawny to make a decent meal."

"Ha ha," Shino muttered, glaring at his snickering friend.

"If it's any consolation, I wouldn't eat you," Dai said, smiling cheerfully at Shino.

Shino's expression remained flat. "Thanks, Dai. Glad to see someone's still sane around here," he mumbled, glancing over at Kouji. Both he and Kira had been completely oblivious to the world since Ilsemon's last visit, and though Kouichi would speak on occasion, he was often lost in thought. They couldn't really be blamed for acting so distant. After all, Ilsemon had dropped a pretty big bomb four days ago…

—

_Four days earlier…_

Silence filled the hall as the gang tried to process what they'd just heard. _I've been subtly influencing your lives since the day each of you was born. _

Only JP managed a response. "Crazy Digimon say what now?"

Ilsemon smirked. "The 'crazy Digimon' says that she has been watching you all from the start, following your every movement. I've been with you since you were small, and it fills my heart with pride to see what lovely young men and women you've become."

"Oh, bullshit," Kira said, speaking out for the first time since her tangle with the Gorillamon. "You expect us to believe that you, a sadistic, cold-hearted bitch, had a hand in raising us? No offense, Ilsie, but we're not THAT bad."

"I never claimed to have raised you," Ilsemon replied, grinning darkly. She truly relished this moment, this big reveal. Either she was simply tired of keeping it to herself, or the truth would be painful for the gang. The latter seemed more likely. "At first, I simply monitored you as you grew older. But as time progressed, I realized that you could become an actual threat should you be summoned to our world."

"Okay, back up a sec," Zoe said, raising her one good arm to halt the story. "You 'monitored' us? So that means you've been following us around?"

"Since you were quite young," Ilsemon finished, nodding once in confirmation.

"Then why'd you claim you didn't know about my past?" Shino asked, eyes glazing from the memory of Ilsemon's earlier snooping.

"Quite frankly, you're life had become a bore to watch. That, and I hadn't been paying very close attention to any of you between your last trip to the Digital World and when you regained your D-Tectors. I couldn't have known what Mai did, in the end," Ilsemon said, waving off the inquiry. "Just know that, for the most part, I watched you all as you grew and matured. Of course, Hallucimon did the real snooping in earlier years, before I regained my physical form."

"So not only were you following us, you were following us…as a ghost," JP said slowly, trying to process this new information. "And Hallucimon helped you?"

"Precisely," Ilsemon replied. "You see, children, it is difficult enough for the normal, physical data of a Digimon to hold its shape in your world. This strain on our bodies becomes ten times worse when in 'spiritual' form, i.e. when a Digimon's data forms a spirit. I simply could not stay in the human world as much as I would have liked."

"But Digimon have been breaking into our world on a regular basis," Kouji challenged.

"Plus our Spirits were able to stay in our world with us," Dai added.

Ilsemon sighed, exasperated by their lack of understanding. "I never claimed that it was impossible for a Digimon to exist in your world. What I meant by 'difficult' is that, in your data-less reality, it takes a bit of concentration to hold one's data together. This difference is too acute for the average Digimon to notice, but it still tickles at the backs of their minds. As for your Spirits, they are kept safe within your D-Tectors, which I believe act as a sort of barrier for the Warriors when their Spirits are not in use.

"In my spirit form, I strove for a way to restore my brother to his rightful place," Ilsemon continued. "I would travel to the core of this world, where Lucemon sat in exile. Together, we hatched a plan. Using the Digital World's very Fractal Code, Lucemon would regain his strength and break free of his prison. Then he and I would rebuild our world, shaping it to our own liking."

The gang shivered collectively, unnerved by their captor's blatant disregard for the diversity of life. Like her brother, she considered herself a "god-like" being, toying with the lives of others, playing mind games with innocents. Torture was her hobby, and she could simply discard any toy she broke. Spoiled, selfish, and ice cold to the core.

Ilsemon had paused to savor the memory of better times. "Our plan nearly came to fruition. You see, I regained a physical body several years before Ophanimon sent out her distress signal. At that time, Cherubimon had already begun collecting Fractal Code."

"Okay, so when you got a new body, you'd already corrupted Cherubimon," Dai said slowly, trying to get all the details in order.

"In short, yes," Ilsemon replied. "I, however, had nothing to do with recruiting Cherubimon. While I observed all of you, Lucemon spent his time observing Cherubimon. The distance he felt between himself and his fellow Celestials opened an opportune window for our plans. As such, Lucemon fed lies to his mind and darkness to his heart, eventually turning him against his companions. Once this had been done, it was a simple matter to manipulate Cherubimon's lust for revenge into a lust for power, spurring on a desire to collect data which would ultimately serve in my brother's reemergence. The only snag in our plan was that fool's jealousy. He wanted to stage a coup against his comrades, and for that he needed to gather an army. As you could guess, this didn't leave much time for data collection."

"And that's where Cherubimon's Spirits came into play," Kouichi said quietly, startling the others with his sudden statement.

Ilsemon smiled. "Precisely. Cherubimon's thoughts were full of hate and rage, so I had to plant the idea in his head. By reviving the Legendary Spirits in his possession, Cherubimon could send a group of competent, capable Digimon to retrieve Fractal Code. At first, I'd thought the only way to accomplish this would be to kidnap and brainwash you children."

Shino paled significantly at the thought of being kidnapped by Ilsemon, while Dai just blinked in surprise. Folding her arms across her chest, Kira stated, "Bitch, please. There's no way you could've taken me that easily. I was a rough and tumble Yankee back in the day."

"Ha," Kouji muttered, earning a fierce glare from Kira.

Ilsemon wasn't intimidated by Kira's declaration in the least. "Look around you, child. You are in a cage. My cage. I was the victor in this round, and I have no doubt that you would have fallen into my clutches before had I not rejected the idea of kidnapping."

"Why did you decide against it?" Shino asked warily. "And no offense, Kira, but we really would have been sitting ducks if she'd come after us."

"Glad to see that one of you knows his place," Ilsemon muttered with a smirk. "I did not bring you to Cherubimon for two reasons. One, you were still rather small at the time, and I wasn't sure if you could yet handle the process of fusing your data with your corresponding Spirit."

"Tommy managed it," JP retorted.

"Indeed he did," Ilsemon mused. "It seems I was much too cautious in my planning. But there was another reason that I chose not to kidnap you." She paused before continuing, seeming to savor the suspense. "Forcing a Digimon into obedience against its will is a process I am quite familiar with. However, I find that it is always better to have a loyal servant over a forced servant. This line of thinking led me to another option; taking five of Cherubimon's followers and allowing them to merge with the Spirits. I hadn't been sure if this was possible at the time, but four Warriors emerged from the experiment, all but their personalities unscathed."

"And the fifth Digimon turned into one of those dark creatures we saw under the RMS, the first time we were here," Zoe stated, her voice as hard as granite. "You couldn't find a Digimon that could handle Lowemon's corrupted spirit."

"So you set your sights on me," Kouichi added, gaze practically glued to the floor.

Ilsemon nodded. "Yes, that is true."

"What stopped you from grabbing him then and there?" JP asked tightly.

A dark smile rose to Ilsemon's lips. She chuckled, mouthing something along the lines of "They won't like this," to herself. Finally, when her laughter had ceased, she said, "Actually, I was rather preoccupied trying to kill the rest of you."

Ilsemon had been right. The gang didn't like this. "Whoa, hold up. You tried to kill us?" JP repeated, mouth hanging open in shock.

"The hell, bitch?" Kira added, jumping to her feet. This movement knocked Shino into Zoe's lap, resulting in some very awkward scrambling and apologies.

Ilsemon paused as the gang repositioned themselves. "Yes, I did try to kill you, though not very seriously at first. I wanted your deaths to seem as if they were accidental. No need to make things hard on your human police when they'd have no suspects to arrest."

"So that time when my hair got caught in the garbage disposal…?" Zoe began.

"Hallucimon grabbed it and tugged it down the drain," Ilsemon replied.

"And when I almost fell down an elevator shaft in the burnt-out hotel that used to be down my street…?" Kira ventured.

"Apparently, I didn't shove hard enough, and your shriek alerted the other humans who had snuck into the building with you."

"And that time when I was taking a bath and a hair dryer that Mom had supposedly left on the shelf near the tub almost fell into the water when I reached for some shampoo…?" Everyone gave JP shocked stares.

Ilsemon smirked. "My pranks became more sophisticated as time wore on. I thought death by electrocution would be a rather ironic demise for the Warrior of Thunder. But it seems that luck was constantly on your side. I realized that, unless I revealed myself and killed you outright, something I did not wish to do, you children would remain alive."

"Why all the secrecy? It's not like we would've known who or what you were back then," Shino stated, giving their enemy a quizzical look.

The dark Digimon's wings twitched slightly, causing Sagittarimon to pull back in surprise. He hadn't realized how close he'd been leaning toward his mistress, absorbed by the tale she told. "Sagittarimon," Ilsemon said, bringing the centaur to attention. "These children look parched. Bring them a bowl of water, would you?"

"Sure! I mean, uh, yes milady!" Sagittarimon stumbled over both his words and his feet as he rushed down the hall, off to fulfill his lady's request.

Ilsemon watched as the guard hurried out of sight. "Such a foolish creature, but he does as he's told." Turning back to the gang, she continued her explanation. "Why the secrecy, you ask? It's quite simple, actually. Only a select few Digimon knew of my return, and I wished to keep it that way. There are too many uncertain factors in murder, and should a well-informed Digimon have investigated your deaths, I would have been discovered. Still, I did wish to be rid of a particular one of you."

Kouji met Ilsemon's eyes and instantly realized to whom she was referring. "You wanted me dead."

"Correct," Ilsemon replied. "Again, for two reasons. One, you were destined to inherit the Spirits of Light. Not even you have yet realized the power which this entails. I knew that Ophanimon, no doubt, would turn you against Cherubimon should you be summoned, and I hadn't known where the other five Spirits were being kept, so there was no way for me to claim possession over them. The second reason has to do with your brother."

Kouji tensed, glancing at his twin. To his surprise, Kouichi remained calm, never taking his eyes off the ground. "You didn't want me dead."

Ilsemon smiled at his brother in a way that made Kouji's skin crawl. "Exactly. I still needed you in order to put the Spirits of Darkness to use, and for that, it would be necessary to erase your memories." Her smile faded. "My powers, contrary to popular belief, are not airtight. There are always chinks in a person's mind that may be breeched. If I was to bring Kouichi to our world, and if he were to encounter Kouji…well, you witnessed that for yourself."

"He didn't know who I was back then. It wouldn't have mattered," Kouji stated.

"The bond between light and darkness is strong," Ilsemon replied simply. "Those were my reasons for wanting to kill you, anyway, and I nearly succeeded. If that girl hadn't shoved you away from the truck…"

The truth descended on Kouji with hurricane force. "Seiko...?"

"Was an unfortunate casualty," Ilsemon said, for once sounding truly sorry. "My sister regained a body because of Wizardmon's incompetence."

"Wizardmon…" Strangely, Kouji's shock didn't interfere with his mental acuity, and he soon processed the full truth of that day. "You sent him to kill me. The truck…"

"I don't believe that Wizardmon planned to hit you with that truck, though it was certainly an ingenious idea. But that girl had to go and save you that day…"

"Shut up!" Zoe shouted, glaring harshly up at Ilsemon. She hadn't been the only one to notice Kouji's growing look of horror, and Ilsemon had been agitating her friend's pain. Kouji blinked slowly, clearing some of the hurt from his eyes, and cast Zoe a grateful glance.

"So that's why you didn't bother us after that," Dai stated, giving Ilsemon a thoughtful look. "Seiko helped Masumon resurrect herself, and then she kept you from doing bad things to us."

Ilsemon's eyes narrowed at the small boy. "My, how perceptive you are." Her lips were tight with concealed anger as she spoke, "Yes, if you must know, my sister became quite a nuisance after she regained a body. Believe it or not, we are normally able to hold our own against each other. Her defense matches my offense. The perfect balance between my darkness and her light."

She allowed the gang a moment to ponder this before continuing. "But not even Masumon could prevent what happened to Kouichi."

"You…pushed him down those stairs?" Zoe asked uncertainly.

"Haven't you been paying any attention to my tale?" Ilsemon groaned, wiping a hand delicately across her forehead as if she was tired. "I did not want harm to come to Kouichi, because I needed him to wield Duskmon's spirit. The other four Warriors were powerful, yes, but not as powerful as they could be with their human partners. Cherubimon required an ace in the hole, and Kouichi could provide that ace. Basically, what I mean to say is that his own clumsiness caused his accident that day, not my interference."

"You had to ask, didn't you?" Kouichi mumbled into his knees, embarrassed once more by his clumsy streak.

Zoe smiled sheepishly. "Well, I wanted to know for sure."

Ignoring this exchange, Ilsemon held one of her smooth hands up in the dim light, examining it absently. "It turned out that I hadn't needed to kidnap Kouichi after all. You see, children, even before you knew of your destinies, you were subtly connected to each of your Spirits. Perhaps those of you whose Spirits Cherubimon corrupted recall feeling a bit off at times?"

Shino, Kira, and Dai shared a long look. It dawned on each of them that they had experienced the feelings Ilsemon was referring to, and these feelings had all surfaced at least two years before the date on which Ophanimon's message had been sent. None of them had been able to explain the sudden fits of nausea, light-headedness, even depression, that had plagued them on and off, then vanished suddenly without a trace. "Hotaru too?" Shino asked faintly. Dai nodded once.

"I thought so," Ilsemon muttered half to herself. "This same connection caused Kouichi's soul to be transported to the Digital World. I'm sure you all assumed that Cherubimon had somehow plucked his spirit out of the ether, drawn in by his dark thoughts, but I should tell you that this was not the case. Instead, Kouichi's essence was transported to our world by the desperate cries of Lowemon's spirit, trapped within his own folds of darkness. It was Kouichi's own misfortune to have run into me."

"Run into you…?" Zoe repeated, confusion spreading across her face.

"But Kouichi told us that Cherubimon found him," JP said slowly, feeling just as perplexed as Zoe.

"That's what he thought," Kouji muttered, eyes wide with understanding. "This just gives me another reason to hate you, Ilsemon."

"I'm flattered," Ilsemon replied mockingly.

"So Ilsemon was the one who…?" Zoe and JP, along with the rest of the gang, turned their gazes upon Kouichi.

He shuffled a bit uncomfortably under their stares, but Ilsemon obviously intended for him to tell this story. Her sadism never ceased to amaze. "Yeah. She's the one who erased my memories. Then I guess she handed me over to Cherubimon. I don't really remember that part, though…"

Ilsemon chuckled. "I'm not surprised. You remained unconscious until we gave you Duskmon's spirit."

"You forced it on me," Kouichi retorted, growing more and more animated as his fury rose. "You used me for your own selfish purposes, and then you had the nerve to blame it all on Cherubimon!"

"To be fair, Cherubimon had no qualms about using you as his weapon," Ilsemon commented slyly. "Besides, my cover could not afford to be blown. I couldn't have you blabbing about me to your friends."

"You knew from the beginning that we'd get him back," Kouji said, smirking faintly. "You knew I'd save him."

"I didn't know from the beginning," Ilsemon replied, correcting Kouji's assumption. "But when his memories resurfaced after nearly killing you, I couldn't afford to take any chances. I was forced to erase his human memories yet again, this time rearranging them to place the full blame on Cherubimon."

"I wanted you to stop." Kouichi shivered as he recalled what had happened during that near-fatal encounter, but there was a certain sense of pride in his voice as he spoke. "I told you to let me go, that I wouldn't become a murderer. But then the fuzziness came back…"

"Did you honestly expect me to heed your request?" Ilsemon said haughtily. "I would have brainwashed you after Ophanimon's interference as well, had it not been time to dispose of Cherubimon. You children should feel honored that I entrusted you with such a task."

"What are we, your garbage men?" JP mumbled. To Ilsemon, he said, "Alright, we got rid of Cherubimon. Then what?"

"The Royal Knights, obviously," Ilsemon replied. "Though I'm not sure why the writers kept you around when Takuya and Kouji were doing all the work. Really, you should have suffered the same fate as Akari and Zenjirou."

JP, Zoe, and Kouichi looked as if they'd been stung by digital hornets. "You take that back right now, lady!" JP shouted, glaring up at his psychopathic captor.

"No take-backs. It's already out there," Ilsemon retorted, raising her arms nonchalantly.

Even Kira backed away from the blazing anger emanating from her tormented friends. "Honestly, I think you guys got the better end of the deal in that situation," Kouji muttered, attempting to diffuse the others. "Didn't you see how many times me and Takuya got our asses kicked in the last fifteen or so episodes? Do you really crave decent screen time so much that you'd be willing to risk life and limb to get it?"

"How much screen time we talking?" Kouichi asked, sounding as if he'd seriously consider the option.

"Kouichi's lack of screen time aside, I meant what did you do after Taki and Kouji took out Cherubimon?" JP inquired of Ilsemon. "After all you just told us, I'm kinda curious to know where in the Digital World you and your cronies were while the royal goons were doing your dirty work."

Ilsemon closed her eyes slowly, as if not even she wished to recall this particular anecdote. "My sister redoubled her efforts to stop me. We were at a stalemate, she and I. Not that there was any need to get involved. As you've so kindly pointed out, Dynasmon and Crusadermon were 'kicking your asses.'"

"Not to mention the Team Rocket larping," JP mumbled. "Well, Team Rocket from the first few episodes, before constant failure and damaging electrocution destroyed their self confidence, along with their mental capacity to formulate decent schemes."

"Yes, they did their duty," Ilsemon continued, ignoring JP's sass. (_JP:_ Sass?) "They collected Fractal Code, and they restored my brother to power. But you still stood in our way. Lucemon should not have been forced to stoop to a direct confrontation with children. Therefore, I took it upon myself to try and cripple your ranks." Ilsemon smirked wickedly in Kouichi's direction. "Did you ever wonder why Crusadermon seemed to know so much more than you did about yourself in this world?"

Kouichi realized what Ilsemon was getting at just as she spoke the words aloud. "That's right. I am the one who instructed Crusadermon to make you aware of your spiritual existence in this world. Looking back, my plan was going quite swimmingly. You were frightened beyond belief by the conclusions you drew, and your focus while fighting could only suffer for it. Still, I should have killed you all when the opportunity had presented itself…I thought you'd been taken care of when the moons were destroyed…"

"But we weren't," Kouji said.

Ilsemon shot a quick glare his way. "No you weren't, much to my displeasure. And then, foolish children that you are…you challenged my brother as he tried to build his bridge to your world." As she continued to speak, Ilsemon's voice became gruffer, letting some of the enmity she felt leak through her normally cool tone. "I tried to help him. I desperately tried. But my sister, our own sister, held me back. You children could not begin to comprehend how I felt as I watched you destroy my brother, with Masumon whispering that it was for the best. Stupid sister! She allowed our brother to die without lifting a finger! She…but that hardly matters now.

"Soon, Lucemon shall be resurrected." Recovering her level-headed calm, Ilsemon turned to leave. Glancing back at the cell, she left her captives some parting words. "You shall pay me back for the loss I've suffered. Until then, I may as well show you some degree of hospitality. Renamon will be along shortly to tend to your wounds."

Waving a hand dismissively in their direction, Ilsemon stalked briskly down the hall. The gang watched warily as their Digimon captor retreated. Once she was out of sight, JP muttered, "Geez, she's not just a bitch anymore. Now she's the alpha bitch."

"At least she's gone," Zoe said, though she still glanced warily through the bars of the cell as if expecting Ilsemon to saunter back any moment. "I guess we can relax for now."

"Hotaru can't," Dai stated in an uncharacteristically flat voice. His eyes, however, were brimming with tears of frustration. "He's all by himself in this place. All alone, with Ilsemon…"

The others wanted to give Dai some words of hope, but could think of nothing to lift the boy's spirits. Hotaru's situation was bleak, and theirs didn't look any better. Staring at the palms of his hands, JP's mouth drooped into a frown. "How can this be happening?"

"Uh, Ilsemon kicked our asses?" Shino muttered, sarcasm dripping from his tone.

JP's frown deepened. "That's not what I meant! It's just that…how are we only finding out about Ilsemon now? If she's been involved with everything from the very start, then how could we not have known she existed until now? I don't know, it just pisses me off!"

"Okay, maybe we weren't so well informed our first time here," Zoe said gently, trying to pacify JP's anger. "But if anyone else had known what she was up to, I'm sure we would have been told."

"Not true," Kouji stated, his words clipped as he held back his own boiling rage. "Masumon knew about her. She was around. She could have told us, or at least sent someone over to tell us. She didn't. We were kept in the dark."

"And I've known about Ilsemon all along," Kouichi added, clutching his legs closer to his chest. This seemed to agitate the bruises covering his insides, but he barely noticed the pain. "I just couldn't remember..."

Zoe placed her hand on top of Kouichi's, squeezing it comfortingly. "Guys, I don't think it really matters why this or that happened back then. It's in the past. Besides, Ilsemon just told us all that to freak us out. Don't let it work."

Everyone remained silent after Zoe's speech. They knew she was right, and it would be playing right into Ilsemon's hands to let their anger build. Still, the winged Digimon's words had affected them all in different ways. "I'm not mad at her," Kouji mumbled, and from his tone the others could guess to whom he was referring. "It's just…she avoided me. Not that she could remember, anyway…that bastard Wizardmon made sure of that…"

"As if we didn't have enough reason to hate him, too," JP muttered, glancing at Shino for confirmation.

Instead, the Warrior of Wood said, "I don't know what to think about Wizardmon anymore." The others watched as Shino's hand clutched absently at his arm, the arm upon which Wizardmon had left his mark. Shino blinked at his friend's wary glances. "What?"

"Oh, nothin' for now," Kira muttered, glaring at her feet. "At least if you go nuts, I'll have someone to take my aggression out on."

Shino's brow slowly furrowed. "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Who cares what it means?" Zoe stated loudly, capturing everyone's attention again. "Can we please stop arguing for two seconds and focus on something important, like how we plan to bust out of this cell?"

"Yeah, how do you suggest we pull that off?" Shino asked sarcastically. "Say, maybe we should blow our way out with my imaginary bazooka!"

"Shino, please," Zoe said softly, practically begging him to stop with her eyes. Gaze locked with hers, Shino was jolted by Zoe's look of utter desperation. She'd given him the same look just two days ago, pleading him to forgive her, to come back with her…

"Okay," he said, slowly exhaling the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "So what do we do now?"

The creak of metal bars scraping against stone provided his answer. Everyone's heads shot up as the door to their prison opened seemingly by itself, allowing them a small window of escape. This brief hope was crushed moments later when Renamon poked her head around the corner, an oddly shaped piece of metal dangling from a strip of cloth clutched in her paw. The gang realized that the metal scrap was some sort of key to their cell, and that Renamon must have been ordered down to see them by her mistress.

Everyone, particularly Kouji and JP, the only two present who had ever been affected by Renamon's strange gifts, pressed their backs against the far wall of the cell, putting as much distance as they could between the fox and themselves. "You're here to heal us," Shino stated, recalling Ilsemon's parting words.

Renamon regarded each of the children individually before she answered. "Yes. That is what I have been sent to do."

JP scoffed. "Funny, I've never actually seen you heal anyone. All you do is take strength."

"She healed me once," Kouji muttered, never shifting his gaze from the fox Digimon. "Granted, she also tried to kill me."

"Should we trust her?" Shino asked, glancing over each of his friends before his gaze fell on Zoe's arm. "We could use her…gifts."

To everyone's surprise, Renamon chuckled softly, a bitter sound deep in her throat. "Gifts?" she repeated, shaking her head slightly. "No, they are not gifts. That word would imply that I was given these powers out of another's generosity. My abilities are a curse, something forced upon me."

Stunned silence followed Renamon's statement. To the gang, she had always seemed to be one of Ilsemon's more soft-spoken lackeys. Now, however, the fox Digimon was regarding the children with a defiant flame in her beady eyes, challenging them to insult her again. Had this change come about due to Duskmon's influence? They'd been together before, but where was the swordsman now?

Letting these questions drop for the time being, Shino shrugged. "Okay, your powers aren't gifts. Anyway, I can't claim to be a very good judge of character, so maybe Dai should give the okay on this one. Should we let Renamon treat us or not?"

"My orders were to treat your injuries, by force if necessary," Renamon stated tonelessly.

"Should we let Renamon treat us or not?" Shino repeated his question to Dai, unperturbed by Renamon's threat.

Dai stared up at the fox for at least a minute, eyebrows scrunched up in concentration. Finally, his expression relaxed and he grinned. "I think we can trust her," he said. When the others didn't respond, Dai rolled his eyes. "C'mon guys! I've got a good feeling about her."

The rest of the gang didn't seem very reassured by Dai's verdict, but they nonetheless allowed Renamon to work without holdup. Since it would be almost impossible to fit another living being into their cramped quarters, an arrangement was made where Renamon would crouch in front of the opening of the cell, and those who needed treatment would come before her one at a time. The others insisted that Zoe go first since the cellars of the RMS were a bit damp and, without his jacket, the cold was beginning to catch up to Shino.

Zoe remained still and silent, her good hand wrapped tightly around Kouichi's, as Renamon ran her paws gently along the length of her mangled arm, studying the break her mistress had made. "The bone has been set," she muttered, a hint of relief in her tone. "Good. I don't enjoy resetting bones."

"Can't you just turn on your powers and instantly fix bones without resetting them?" JP inquired, curious now that Renamon seemed to be helping them.

Renamon shook her head as a faint glow radiated from her paw. "My powers don't work that way. I can speed up healing processes, but I must still follow the conventions of the trade. Her arm would heal crookedly if it hadn't been set in its proper place."

"Good job, doc," JP muttered, giving Shino a thumbs up sign.

He sighed in response. "Kira's the one who set it, in case you don't recall."

"Oh!" Zoe's sudden exclamation brought everyone's attention back to her arm. They all tensed, Kouichi looking as if he'd tackle Renamon should Zoe give the slightest indication that she was hurting. However, Zoe obviously wasn't in any pain. In fact, her muscles began to relax as she allowed the warm sensation centered in Renamon's paw to spread through her limb, working its way into her veins, her cells, and finally her bones. "Oh wow…this feels…wow!"

Kouichi gripped Zoe's hand in both of his as the tension completely left her body, loosening her fingers' hold on him. "Are you alright, Zo?" he asked, a bit worried by the far-off look in Zoe's eyes.

She tilted her head forward in a weak attempt at a nod. "Yes, I'm fine. It's just…I didn't expect this to feel good!"

"Good?" Kouichi glanced at Renamon, watching the fox Digimon as she pored over Zoe's arm, a fierce look of concentration on her face. The light around her paws grew and grew as she continued to send strength into Zoe's body, giving of her own energy in order to toughen the girl's healing processes. Kouichi didn't want to, but he couldn't stop the gratitude swelling in his chest, couldn't help but feel thankful to Renamon for taking away Zoe's pain. Still, she was allied with the enemy, and that didn't just mean Ilsemon. She was loyal to Duskmon as well, and for that reason, Kouichi could never fully trust her.

Another minute or so passed before Renamon lifted her paws from Zoe's arm, officially pronouncing that she was healed. Zoe opened her eyes, released from the euphoric warmth of Renamon's energy, and glanced at her arm. Tentatively, she extended her elbow, testing its restored ability to function. Everything worked fine as she moved her arm this way and that. She'd been healed.

A slow smile spread across Zoe's face as she stared at Renamon. "Thank you."

A hint of shock glinted in the dark depths of her eyes, but Renamon was obviously used to suppressing her thoughts. She nodded once in response to Zoe, then glanced across the rest of the children. "Which of you is next?"

Kouichi was soon pushed to the front of the group to receive his treatment, though he'd tried to put it off, saying that Kira's hands needed to be mended first. She, however, brushed off his concern, claiming that bruised ribs outweighed burned hands on the injury-meter. Having no defense against that logic (mostly because he had no clue what the "injury-meter" was), Kouichi bit his lip and allowed Renamon's paw to brush across his chest, much to his discomfort. Once her powers kicked in, though, his edginess all but disappeared.

It took a bit longer for Renamon to treat Kouichi's injury, and the more energy she poured into him, the dimmer the glow surrounding her paws became. Still, she performed her duty, and Kouichi's pain was put to rest. Kira was the next in line.

But, to everyone's surprise, she flinched away from Renamon's touch. "I don't need you fixing me up, Foxy," she growled, glaring at the fox Digimon. "To be blunt, I don't like you, and don't care that you just helped my friends. I'm gonna let these burns heal on their own, and there's not a damn thing you can do about it."

"Kira…" Zoe began.

"I don't want to hear it, Zee!" Kira snapped, holding up her swollen red palms. Her eyes glistened as she stared her best friend down, willing her to understand her thoughts. "This is his pain, too. Sagittarimon took my keys; these are the only connection I have to him. Please."

Seeing the desperation in Kira's eyes, Zoe wished she didn't have to speak the following words. "It is his pain, Kira. Didn't you see how hurt he was when he realized he'd burned you? Do him a favor; erase his mistake. If he saw you now, he'd just feel guilty all over again."

Kira was stung by the truth Zoe's words carried. Taki had been absolutely horrified at what he'd done to her, so much so that he'd nearly allowed his out-of-control power surge to take over. His pain-filled voice still echoed in her mind: _I'm sorry!_ "Fine. Do it. Fix me up, Doctor Fox." Kira grudgingly held her hands out in front of her, palms facing upward for Renamon to inspect.

To Zoe's surprise, Renamon gave her a grateful glance before peering over her next task. _Maybe Dai's on to something about her,_ she thought, staring at her newly healed arm. _She acts like she doesn't care, but that just seems to be the way things are done around here._

Once Kira's burns had been treated, Renamon fell back on her haunches, letting out a longwinded sigh. "Were those the most serious injuries you sustained, or are there more I should heal?" she asked, addressing the entirety of the group. The rest of the gang shook their heads, particularly JP. Though he'd witnessed the flip side of Renamon's powers in effect, he still had no desire to be touched by her mysterious abilities anytime soon. Because of her energy drain, he'd been helpless to defend his friends, and that was a fact he wouldn't forget.

With nothing more to do, Renamon rose to her feet, taking the key from around her neck as she prepared to lock them back into their cell. The gang glanced at each other, knowing this would be a perfect opportunity for escape. If they could distract Renamon for the briefest of moments…

"Hey guys, I brought water!" Like that, their hopes were dashed as Sagittarimon came charging toward their cell, sloshing precious drops of water out of the bowl he carried in his haste to get it to his captives. He stopped short when he noticed Renamon standing in front of the open cell door. "Hey, what are you doing? Ilsemon said nobody's allowed to see the Legendary Warriors except their guard, which is me!"

Renamon whispered something under her breath that sounded strikingly like "digital dimwit," rolling her eyes at the centaur Digimon. "I was told to come here and heal the children's injuries. Hallucimon lent me his key."

Sagittarimon's agitation increased at the mention of that name. "Ugh, I hate that Hallucimon guy! Thinks he's better than all of us just cuz he's Ilsemon's right hand Digimon. Well, I'll prove that I'm just as great a Digimon as he is, you'll see!"

"I'm sure I will," Renamon muttered sarcastically.

Before she turned to leave, though, something Dai said gave her pause. "Y'know Renamon, you should help people like this more often. You're good at it!"

Renamon glanced back, new emotions flashing within her light blue gaze. The foremost one seemed to be gratitude. She stared at Dai for a long moment, long enough that Sagittarimon crept closer to see what exactly was taking place. When she noticed him eavesdropping, Renamon turned briskly on her heel, placing Hallucimon's key in his waiting claws as she strode down the hallway and out of sight, her tail swishing around the corner as she went.

Sagittarimon glanced at the key in his grip, then at the bowl of water. Then down at the gang. "What's her problem?"

—

Renamon limped slowly through the dank dungeon pass, her gloved paw grazing along the cool stone wall. At first she'd needed the extra crutch just to remain upright, but she'd regained enough energy now to move without help, at least to a relative degree. She'd never have let on in front of those children how much power it took for her to heal them. The strength she needed to accomplish this came directly from her body, leaving her in a weakened state. Unless, of course, she drained another of their energy. But her orders had been to heal the children, not deplete their strength. So she bore the burden of her abilities, climbing slowly up the staircase leading out of these depressing dungeons. Perhaps if Duskmon were with her, she could have leaned against his shoulder for support…

But that was no longer a possibility. As Renamon had repeatedly told herself, Duskmon no longer wanted anything to do with her. Ironic that she should be the one cast aside, but he'd said it himself, before he'd explained his dark past in frightening detail, before he'd transformed into the skeletal bird Digimon that was his Beast Spirit. _I'll dare you to find one redeeming quality in me…if you're smart, which I'm sure you are, you won't._

He was correct in his assumption; she hadn't known what to say after he'd finished his story. Duskmon's blood red gaze had held her in place, but couldn't glean from her the desired reaction. Obviously, he'd been hoping she'd run away screaming or show at least some fear in his presence. When Renamon didn't respond in this way, frustration clouded his features. She had stood and watched as her one and only friend turned and ran from her, a picture of loneliness against a desolate black backdrop.

_He'll return._ Renamon knew this to be true. She wanted to believe that his feelings for her would draw him back to the RMS…no, that was a ridiculous fantasy. She couldn't be sure what Duskmon felt for her anymore, whether their friendship had been ruined by her silence. Maybe he was angry with her, or even fearful that she was angry with him. Either way, his loyalty had never rested with her, not truly. Instead, it rested with Nina.

Nina. The mysterious girl who had such a strong hold over Duskmon. _He is alive because of her._ Renamon reminded herself of this fact, keeping the bile from rising in her throat. _Of course he would be loyal to his benefactress._

But Duskmon's feelings for Nina ran much deeper than this, Renamon could tell. No matter his outlook on a situation, he would do Nina's bidding, simply because she'd asked it of him. Once, after Nina had returned from her failed attempt at "liberating" Kouichi, Renamon had tried to confront this girl who supposedly "embodied Darkness." But something had set off Duskmon's still raw emotional state, and she hadn't wanted to upset him further with an argument. She now regretted her decision to back off.

_I know she did something to you._ She'd never tell Duskmon this, but she didn't trust Nina as far as she could throw her. It was odd that, despite everything Duskmon had been put through for Nina's sake, he still trusted her explicitly. He certainly didn't have the same patience with Ilsemon. In fact, he hated being used, as far as Renamon could tell. If he despised Ilsemon for enslaving him, then why not Nina? Why couldn't he realize that she was using him as well?

Only one thought came to mind. _Brainwashed._ It was true that Duskmon had been revived through Nina's power in exchange for his services to her. But perhaps those services ran deeper than he had expected. Maybe Nina had wormed her way into the deep recesses of his mind, so deep that not even he knew she was there. From her comfy perch, Nina could control Duskmon's actions whenever she saw fit, and he could do nothing about it.

"Is that why he ran from me?" Renamon halted, considering this for the first time. Had Nina labeled her a threat? She couldn't imagine why a powerful element like Darkness would consider her threatening…unless her friendship with Duskmon had something to do with it. "He tried to push me away…I'm just thinking in circles."

Renamon sighed, resolving to give this dilemma more thought later. For now, she had other matters to consider, like how she planned to hide a pronounced traitor in her room for who knew how long.

In a way, it had been a stroke of luck that she'd run into Hallucimon when she did. After Duskmon's departure, Renamon had been walking back toward the opening of Ilsemon's fortress when a heap of purple fur caught her eye. She'd stooped down to examine the creature and was shocked to recognize another of Ilsemon's followers; Impmon. He was unconscious and exhausted, that much was for sure, but Renamon hadn't been able to find any physical injuries marring the imp-like Digimon.

Since her attempts to wake him hadn't succeeded, she'd scooped him into her arms and carried him into the RMS with her, resolving to take him back to her room and tend to him there. No one else had passed her in the hall, so no one had seen her with Impmon. It hadn't been until Renamon left her quarters in search of water that she realized how lucky she'd been.

Hallucimon had been waiting for her outside, and Renamon recalled thinking it odd that he hadn't just waltzed into her room like he would in any other situation. Perhaps he had a chivalrous side after all. Whether he did or not, he'd relayed Ilsemon's orders in his trademark cool manner, flicking his black tail back and forth. Immediately after his message, along with his key, had been received, he'd risen on his haunches in order to leave. Before he'd gone, though, he'd added an interesting tidbit of information.

Renamon had become more and more anxious during the slow trek back to her chamber. She practically launched herself through the open stone doorway of her room, only to find that Impmon hadn't been disturbed during her errand; his small chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm as he lay sprawled across Renamon's cot. That was really the only furniture this stone enclosure contained.

Renamon sunk to her knees beside her weary comrade, feeling a bit weary herself. However, she knew that she couldn't yet afford to rest. When Impmon awoke, she had to recount Hallucimon's warning to him.

_"By the way, if you happen to come across Wizardmon or Impmon, be sure to report their whereabouts to Lady Ilsemon immediately. They have been pronounced traitors to the cause."_

—

Wizardmon stood at Takuya's feet, head bowed so low that the brim of his hat touched the ground. Moments ago, he'd finally been allowed to visit Takuya, who had been in and out of consciousness for the past several days. Now, though, the Warrior of Fire had regained full awareness, and it was time that Wizardmon made his apology. "I'm sorry. That may not sound like much coming from me, but please believe me when I say that I truly regret all the pain I've caused you and your friends. I won't ask for your forgiveness, but I will need your trust if I have any hope of redeeming myself. Let me help you defeat Ilsemon. Please."

Tommy, Witchmon, and Dragramon glanced anxiously between the two, wondering what Takuya's reaction would be to Wizardmon's plea. The goggle-head had never liked Wizardmon, and in his current state of mind, there was no telling what he might do. He hadn't said a word since they'd told him what happened to the others…

Takuya's brows furrowed as he glared at Wizardmon, but there was no heat in his gaze. He was still recovering from his injuries, after all, though everyone knew this wasn't the only cause of his apathetic state. Several moments passed before Takuya finally muttered, "If you can help us rescue the others, then we're square."

Wizardmon's breath caught in his throat. He lifted his head and stared at Takuya, gauging whether the boy was being serious or not. However, Takuya was no longer paying attention to him, and was instead turned toward the other two Digimon in the room. "There Witchmon, I gave him my approval." Wizardmon flinched when Takuya waved a hand in his general direction; he obviously didn't care much that the wizard Digimon had switched sides. "Now let's just focus on getting the others back."

Seeing the discomfort in her brother's eyes, Witchmon glared back at Takuya. "Hey, Wizardmon just apologized for what he did. The least you can do is take it seriously, Taki!"

"Witchy…" Dragramon warned, not wanting a fight to break out.

"It's okay, sis," Wizardmon stated quietly. "He's right to be anxious about his friends. I've seen what Ilsemon can do to even the most willful Digimon. Eventually, everyone cracks."

Wizardmon paused when he noticed the pained expressions on both Takuya's and Tommy's faces. "But I don't think Ilsemon's done anything to them yet. If she were torturing someone, I'd be able to tell. Shino would be flipping out."

"Well, that's not really a surefire method to go by. Ilsemon could have locked all the kids in different rooms and is torturing them separately…" Witchmon put a hand over Dragramon's mouth to halt her ponderings, since it looked like Takuya and Tommy were about to be sick. "Not that I think that's actually happening!"

"Way to put your foot in your mouth," Wizardmon muttered, rolling his eyes. In response, Dragramon smacked his arm with her tail.

"Anyway!" Witchmon stated loudly, getting the conversation back on track. "We've already infiltrated the RMS once and successfully retrieved a prisoner. Granted, Ilsemon kinda wanted us to rescue Masumon since she knew it would mess with Kouji's head. Oh, speaking of which, thanks a lot for cluing me in on the whole Masumon/Seiko thing, guys! And I thought I was an honorary member of the group…"

"It was a pretty big shock for us, too," Tommy said, giving Witchmon a curious glance. "How'd you find out about that?"

"Apparently, Wizzy took a trip to your world and met her, something I was also kept in the dark about until now!" Wizardmon shrunk a bit, not so much due to Witchmon's anger as due to her mention of his past. "What is it with you guys not telling me things? Am I untrustworthy or something?"

"I trust you," Dragramon stated. "And, not that it's important, but no one told me any of this either…jerks."

"Can we please stop talking about this?" Takuya suddenly snapped, halting the others' debate. "No offense, but I really don't care right now what went on between Wizardmon and Seiko. Hell, I don't even care that you found a way into our world back then. I just want to get my friends back, so let's put a plan together and head out."

The others all gave Takuya sympathetic looks, but none were as sympathetic as Tommy's. Only he could understand completely what his friend was going through, because he felt it too. Instead of staying and facing whatever horrors Ilsemon had in store for them, Tommy had grabbed Takuya and run. He'd left his friends for dead, but this didn't seem to begin to scratch the surface of Takuya's guilt. Earlier, when the two had been left alone by the others, Takuya had made an odd apology to his young friend. Tommy could still recall the words.

_"I'm sorry, Tommy. I owe this apology to everyone, but…I made a huge mistake out there, one that could have cost everyone their lives. From now on, I'm going to control myself. I promise."_

Tommy wouldn't have been concerned about Takuya's ramblings, only he didn't understand how his friend's actions had endangered anyone other than himself. Normally he would ask, but he didn't want to upset Takuya further, so he was content to shut his mouth, at least for now.

"First of all, Taki, Masumon's ordered you on bed rest for at least another week," Witchmon stated, crossing her arms over her chest.

Takuya gave her a defiant glare. "Give me one good night of rest and I'll be ready to go by morning."

Dragramon began shaking her head before Takuya had even finished his sentence. "No way, José. You've still got some major healing to do, and we're not letting you risk your life at this crucial juncture."

"Then why is Tommy going?" Takuya asked. "You'll risk losing him over me?"

"I'm not the one who got hurt, Takuya," Tommy pointed out mildly. He smiled at the older boy and added, "Don't worry about me. I've gotten through worse intact."

Takuya wracked his brains for a decent argument, and when he found none receded into an extremely grumpy state. The others rolled their eyes, knowing the goggle-head's can-do attitude had returned full force. "No need to worry. We've got this covered," Wizardmon said, trying to reassure Takuya. "I may not have been able to save my friends, but I…oh no."

Witchmon cocked an eyebrow at her suddenly motionless brother. "What's up, Wizzy? Need some more potion to keep out Ilsemon's bad mojo?"

"Wait, there's a potion that can keep Ilsemon out of our heads?" Tommy asked curiously. "Why didn't we get any?"

"It can't keep her from getting inside your mind at close range, but it helps with the long-distance connections she has with her cronies," Witchmon replied. "I used it on Kouji before, in case you don't recall."

"Yeah, yeah, F2HF chapter 19," Takuya grumbled, still feeling crabby.

"That's not it," Wizardmon said quietly, eyes growing wider by the minute. "I can't believe this…I forgot about Impmon."

—

Hotaru closed his eyes, trying to picture a happier place than the cell around which he currently paced. A picture slowly began to form in his mind, though it was blurry and muffled from the effort it had taken just to recall it from the deep recesses of his memory. He was young, no more than three or four, and his mother was gently tucking in his covers as she put him to bed. There was a flash of light at the window, followed by a loud boom; a thunderstorm. Hotaru vaguely remembered being frightened of the noise, though even as a child it had taken a lot to scare him. His mother had noticed his fear and, to calm his nerves, sang him one of the German songs her mother had taught her as a child. (Note: Hotaru and Dai are part German. Haven't mentioned that till now. :P)

The words were muffled, and even the melody was hard to catch through the static of his young memories, but the meaning was still clear. For the first time since entering this Digital World, Hotaru ached for his mother. He wanted her to hold him, to tell him everything would be alright, even to call him her "little" boy, then snicker at her own joke. And his father, from whom he'd inherited his cool-headed attitude, not to mention his height. He wanted to see his parents more than anything in that moment, but he knew he couldn't. Not until he'd made the world safe for them again. The ones he really needed to see now were his friends…

Hotaru clenched his hands in frustration. Dai and the others were being tormented by Ilsemon, possibly several feet from his own cell, and he could do nothing about it. He felt useless, and he hated it. That was, after all, why he'd come here in the first place; he didn't want to feel so helpless, not again. Never again.

But it wasn't always as simple as overpowering your enemies. His D-Tector had been taken by the Phantomon that had deposited him in this dark, secluded little cell. There was a small window set in the doorway, but it was too high even for Hotaru to reach. A faint amount of light drifted in from this opening, though a majority of the cell was still cast in shadow. It wasn't as if Hotaru was afraid of the dark, but being surrounded by it constantly, day and night, was beginning to put him on edge. It was no wonder, with all these thoughts plaguing his mind, that he couldn't seem to sit still.

In fact, his pacing increased in speed until he was practically sprinting, as best he could, from one corner of his cramped cell to the other, trying not to think about what Ilsemon could be doing to the others. He had received only a few visits during his four (he assumed) day stay in the dungeon of the RMS. One visit had been from Ilsemon. He'd thought she'd come to torture him, but that hadn't been the case. Instead, she'd informed him what had happened after he'd been captured. Tommy was still MIA, Takuya had been felled by Duskmon, and the rest were now her prisoners. After telling him this, she'd left. This, in Hotaru's opinion, was worse than any mental agony she could have inflicted upon him.

He didn't know what Ilsemon was doing to his friends. He didn't know where Tommy was. He didn't know whether Takuya was alive or dead. He didn't even know if Dai was okay, even though he'd promised to protect him…

Suddenly, the door to Hotaru's cell was thrust open. The Warrior of Steel shielded his eyes with his arm, thinking that the light pouring in from the hallway would be too much for his vision to adjust to right away. There was, however, a tall figure blocking the doorway, and Hotaru's senses instantly went on alert when he identified the creature.

His digital visitor took a step forward, and Hotaru took a step back. His fists were clenched and ready to go, but he didn't raise them yet. Even with his faster than average reflexes and powerful fighting abilities, he wouldn't be able to beat this Digimon, at least not in his human form. Still on high alert, he asked the question most prevalent in his mind. "What do you want?"

The Digimon glared at Hotaru for a long moment, his red gaze smoldering the boy's green. Finally, he broke the stalemate by pointing his arm at Hotaru. Reminded instantly of the weapons this monster possessed, Hotaru dove out of the way just before a sword shot out of the Digimon's forearm, crooked and gleaming in the dim light. Soon, however, its gleam was swallowed by what almost seemed like a living shadow. The purple aura seeped from its owner's arm, traveling along the length of the sword until it had covered it entirely. Hotaru's attacker only turned to him when this process had been completed.

Hotaru, from his ground-level perspective, could only stare as Duskmon raised his blade above his head, prepared to plunge it deep into the human's chest.

—

_madjack89:_ And there you have it! Took a while to write, but there was a LOT of information to cover in this chapter. In fact, this may very well be the longest chapter I've written for this story.

_Kira:_ Ilsemon just keeps getting bitchier and bitchier with each chapter, doesn't she?

_madjack89:_ Trust me, her sadism will get even worse.

_Kouji:_ Why am I not surprised?

_JP:_ So this is how you're tying in Ilsemon with the original story, huh?

_madjack89:_ Yup, pretty much!

_Zoe:_ Hey, I just realized something.

_Kouichi:_ What is it?

_Zoe:_ Well, if Masumon was trying to help us behind the scenes during that first adventure, then maybe some of the dumb luck we had wasn't dumb luck at all. Maybe that was her helping us.

_Witchmon:_ Close, but no cigar.

_Dragramon:_ That was us, actually.

_Takuya and JP:_ Say what?

_Dragramon:_ Witchy and I hooked up with Masumon a little before you guys came on those Trailmon.

_Witchmon:_ She told us to watch out for you guys while she took care of thwarting Ilsemon's plans and stuff.

_JP:_ So you guys were stalking us?

_Takuya:_ Why is everyone stalking us, anyway?

_Witchmon:_ Eh, we weren't watching you all the time.

_Dragramon:_ We get bored very easily.

_Witchmon:_ Well, I do remember the time when Lucemon cracked open one of the moons with Taki's and Kouji's heads and you guys starting shooting off in all directions when it blew up.

_Dragramon:_ We had to fly around and grab all of you before you splattered against an asteroid or something.

_Tommy:_ So we all ended up on the same rock…

_Witchmon:_ …because Dragra and I hauled your unconscious little selves over to it. Bokomon and Neemon were already there, so we figured it was the best choice of rock for ya.

_Dragramon:_ Then Masumon needed our help, we rushed over to her, yadda yadda, happy ending for all. Until now!

_Takuya:_ Wait, what about me and Kouji?

_Witchmon:_ Oh yeah. I guess we forgot to grab you in our haste.

_Takuya and Kouji: *glares*_

_Dragramon:_ Hey, it all worked out in the end.

_madjack89:_ Okay, time to wrap things up! See you guys in the next chapter, which will most probably come out in a shorter amount of time than this one did. Yay!


	43. Ch 43: Niisan

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 43: Nii-san**

_Takuya and Kira:_ Hi everybody!

_Pein: *squirts them with water from squirt bottle*_

_Takuya:_ Hey! What was that for?

_Kira:_ Madjack said you could only spray us if we misbehaved!

_Pein:_ You're being too loud.

_Takuya and Kira:_ That's not a—

_Zoe:_ As Takuya and Kira already said, hello readers! This year for Madjack's (belated) birthday, we decided to give her a chapter off, promising we'd handle the commentaries.

_Pein:_ I was put in charge.

_Xemnas: *grumbles*_ Why doesn't she ever put me in charge? I run an organization, too.

_JP:_ I think she likes Pein better.

_Sasori:_ Why do you care, anyway? I thought you hated everyone here.

_Xemnas:_ _*glares at them*_ It's a matter of principle. I could prove to be a better leader than that piercing-obsessed ginger any day.

_Sasori:_ …

_Xemnas:_ What, you think your leader is better?

_Sasori:_ I didn't say anything.

_Zoe:_ Save the argument for later, boys. Now let's take a look at these instructions Madjack gave us. _*reads*_ Okay, she wants us to do something funny before answering reviews. Any ideas?

_Xemnas:_ I could kill one of you.

_Pein: *squirts with squirt bottle*_

_Xemnas:_ _*glares*_

_Pein: *squirts again*_

_Xemnas:_ Hey!

_Pein:_ I don't like you. And I have excellent hearing, for future reference.

_Kira:_ Hm…hey! Remember in episode 32 of Frontier when Velgemon bitch slapped Patamon? That was kind of funny!

_Kouichi:_ Considering I'd been driven into a psychotic rage fueled by unnecessary bitterness toward Kouji for something he hadn't even done.

_Everyone:_ …

_JP:_ …If Chief's done being a buzzkill…

_Kouichi:_ Hey, it's true.

_JP:_ …then maybe we could play a nice wholesome game of let's make fun of Kouji!

_Takuya and Kira:_ Yay!

_Kouji: *glares*_ No abridged references!

_Everyone:_ …

_Takuya:_ …Do you know the muffin man?

_Kouji:_ Okay, I'm leaving.

_Zoe:_ Wait, you can't! We have to finish the commentary!

_Kouji:_ Do it without me.

_Pein: *blocks Kouji's exit, holding squirt bottle*_

_Kouji:_ …I'm staying.

_Takuya and Kira:_ Hooray for Pein!

_Dai:_ Heh, that sounds masochistic out of context!

_Hotaru:_ Or sadistic.

_Shino: *sigh*_ Maybe we should just answer reviews now?

_Zoe:_ Good idea. Who wants to do it?

_Everyone: _…

_Takuya: _…Kouji, thanks for volunteering!

_Kouji:_ What?

_Kira:_ Go pretty boy, go!

_*break*_

_Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967:_ Urgh, I can't believe I was sucked into this again. Okay, what do we have here? _*reads review*_ Well good for you. Next. (_Takuya:_ You gotta thank them for reviewing! It's polite and junk!) _*sigh*_ Fine, whatever. Thank you for reviewing. (_Takuya and Kira:_ There ya go!) Shut up.

_GoldenDragon326:_ Yeah, the update surprised us too. Madjack's good at procrastinating. Anyway, I think Madjack mentioned that chapter 10 of Holiday is halfway written at this point, but I wasn't really paying attention when she told me. _*shrug*_ So…thanks for reviewing.

_Phantomgirl96:_ _*sigh*_ Yeah. We saw the episode. (_JP: *mumbles*_ Frickin' mushroom dancing makin' me look like a frickin' goofball…) You've always been a goofball, JP. (_JP:_ Oh, I'm sorry, I was too busy getting ample screen time to hear what you said.) _*sigh*_ Thanks for reviewing.

_cherrrysakura:_ Oh goody. It's you. Well, guess what? Sasori used his medical ninjutsu skills to cure my cold. (_Sasori:_ In exchange for use of his lifeless corpse after he dies.) (_Xemnas:_ …You're sick.) (_Sasori:_ Sticks and stones.) (_Kouichi:_ I'd say a few complaints about screen time on my part are more or less justified.) Very true. Oh yeah, I almost forgot how Madjack let you borrow Shino's soul for your story. Poor sucker. (_Shino: *sigh*_ It's not that bad…) Anyway, for Madjack, I'm obligated to say thank you for reviewing. And we all know Kira's a Yankee. (_Kira:_ Pretty boy!)

_hazeleyedharmony:_ This reviewer, on the other hand, I can stand for more than two seconds. (_Takuya:_ Kinda rare for you to like an author, Kouji.) *_shrug*_ She mostly picks on Kouichi. Granted, her idea of picking on him usually involves some form of physical injury or mental anguish, but you have to pick your poison sometimes. (_Takuya: *confused by Kouji's logic, so just moves on*_ Yeah, this whole arc is turning into one big emotional roller coaster. I gotta admit, I kinda liked it better when Madjack was just picking on the twins.) *_glares*_ Well, thank you for the review, hazel, and for the congratulations. (_Takuya:_ Four years and still going strong, baby!) *_rolls eyes*_

_silver fire wolf:_ _*sigh*_ If you have questions, take them to Madjack. I'm too annoyed to be helpful right now. (_Takuya:_ And?) _*grits teeth* _Thanks…for…reviewing.

_Taeniaea:_ To some, I suppose it is. Thanks.

_garnettfox:_ Y-y-y-yes, an update! (_Kira:_ Quit being such an asshole, pretty boy!) Yeah, whatever. Madjack has told us repeatedly that, no matter how long it takes her to update, she will not abandon this story. She's dedicated, if nothing else, so I guess you can take her word for it. (_Dragramon:_ Hey there, lord and master of my fate!) Oi. (_Dragramon:_ Madjack said she's ironing out some details for my origin story, but she's still working on it.) (_Witchmon:_ It's gonna be sweet!) (_Dragramon:_ Heck yeah it will be!) Either tone it down or go away! (_Dragramon and Witchmon: *roll eyes at Kouji and leave*_) Finally. Well, thanks for reviewing. And I really don't want a hug. No offense.

_Aldamonburst:_ Well, good for you. (_Takuya:_ I went to a summer camp once. It was a little disappointing since I thought something cool would happen like in season one, but all I got out of it was a braided ankle bracelet. _*sigh*_ No giant unexplainable tsunami waves for me…) Yes, truly you were denied an amazing digital adventure as a child. (_Takuya:_ Oh, shut up, Kouji!) Thank you for reviewing, Burst.

_TobiGB:_ Darn, GB's not here. Darn, darn, darn. Oh well, at least Deadpool isn't going anywhere. (_Kira:_ Your sarcasm is practically tangible, pretty boy.) (_JP:_ Hey there, Roger! How have you been?) (_Takuya:_ Aw, look at JP with his hero worship!) (_JP: *embarrassed* _Shut it, Taki!) (_Zoe: *sigh* _I'd better put this card in a safe place.) Roger, thank you for reviewing the story in a civilized manner. Deadpool, get some counseling. (_Kira:_ You know he'd just kill the counselor.) _*sigh*_ Yeah. I know.

_fg1fg:_ Four years. So many headaches. (_Takuya:_ Oh, there were good times too. Like when we switched bodies. That was fun!) …You really do need sense punched into you. (_Takuya:_ _*glares*_ Jerk face…) (_JP:_ I am awesome, aren't I?) In your own mind. (_JP:_ Like you're one to talk.) True. Well, thank you for reviewing.

_Shadowfox94:_ So glad our pain and anguish can make your day. (_Takuya:_ We're anime characters, Kouji. That's kind of our job.) Point taken. Hm, I wonder that, too. Why single out Hotaru…? _*shrugs*_ I guess we'll find out. (_Wizardmon: *embarrassed, mumbles under breath*_) Well, thank you for reviewing.

_13wolfsbane:_ _*long-winded sigh*_ Okay, let's get this over with. _*reads*_ Kouichi. (_Kouichi:_ Not a stalker.) Thank you. Yeah, Ilsemon's insane. We got that. I doubt Hotaru's going to die. Well, that covers that. Thanks for reviewing. (_Kira:_ Nice job keepin' it civilized, pretty boy!) It wasn't easy.

_Zanzibar1:_ He's doing what he always does; being a bastard. (_Takuya:_ You really don't like Duskmon, huh?) Do you? (_Takuya:_ Hm, good point.) Thank you for the review.

_Asarikou-chan:_ …From those first two words, you have managed to annoy me. Congratulations. (_Zoe:_ Seriously, Kouji, could you try to be a little nicer?) _*sigh*_ Fine. I suppose from your perspective, the chapter would have been interesting. From my perspective, I found out that not only were my actions an unintentionally direct cause of my only friend's death, my mere existence got her killed as well. So yeah, not fun. (_Zoe:_ …Um, maybe you should go back to what you were doing before…) Yes, let's remind the "black-heart monster" to finish me off after he's done with Hotaru. _*rolls eyes*_ Thanks for reviewing…I guess.

_*break*_

_Kouji:_ There, I'm done. Now what?

_Zoe: *shrugs*_ I guess we can start the chapter.

_Tommy:_ I can do that! Okay guys, we hope you like the chapter! Madjack seemed excited about it, so it should be pretty interesting.

_JP:_ Ah, naivety…

—

_I wake up, but I can't tell if it's day or night. I can never tell in this place where the sun doesn't shine. Not that the time really matters to me. For the moment, I have nothing to do, nowhere to be. My one goal is to wait. Be patient, and everything will be okay again._

_"Today is the day." She had told me that earlier. "Wait a bit longer, and you'll have what you desire."_

_What I desire. Sometimes I don't even know what that is. The thoughts will flicker in and out of my consciousness, leaving me confused as to why I'm even here. But his face always reminds me of my goal._

_So come. Come see what the pesky brother you left behind can really do…Nii-san._

—

"Okay, let's do this!" Takuya watched from behind a tree as the "Legendary Kiddies Rescue Squad" (so named by Witchmon and Dragramon) took off through the forest, with Wizardmon in the lead. Gotsumon followed not far behind, his eyes trained on the wizard Digimon's back. He was giving Wizardmon a second chance, but that was mostly for Witchmon's benefit; he still didn't fully trust her brother. The rest of the squad was spaced out behind these two, comprised of Witchmon, Dragramon, a Terriermon, a Gazimon, an Elecmon, and, of course, Tommy.

Takuya itched to join them, and could barely contain himself long enough to let them get a good head start. If he followed them too closely and was spotted, they'd send him back to the tunnels for sure. But they couldn't expect him to just sit and wait for their return, could they? He was the leader of the Legendary Warriors, and the others were his responsibility. Like always, he had gotten them into this mess. Now he had to get them out.

Once he'd completely lost sight of the rescue squad within the trees, Takuya stepped out from his cover, squeezing his D-Tector tightly in his grip. It was a relief to have his device back in his hands, unbroken and fully functional…well, probably functional. He could still hear that crunching sound in his head, feel the breaks and fissures running across his D-Tector's surface. For an instant afterward, something deep inside him had gone cold, because he'd realized the full extent of Ilsemon's actions; without his D-Tector, he wouldn't be able to Spirit Evolve, perhaps not ever again. Despite this, Agunimon had stayed with him, not that his presence had made much of a difference. Through and through, Takuya always managed to be an idiot, and both he and his Spirit knew it.

Takuya ran his thumb around the surface of each of the D-Tector's buttons, suddenly hesitant to start the evolution process. It wasn't the brief, painful conversion of his data that bothered him, nor was he worried about his existing injuries. It didn't even concern him that he hadn't yet tested an evolution to make sure there was nothing wrong with his device. He just felt so…confused. As he gazed at his device's static-filled screen, Agunimon's words repeated themselves in his mind, playing over and over.

_"You are human!"_

The red and black device fell from Takuya's grip as the memory washed over him. Panicked, he instantly retrieved his D-Tector from the ground, checking for dings or scrapes. His device, thankfully, was unharmed. He could continue to be weak, hiding behind Agunimon's persona to make himself feel important. "Even though I'm…human."

Human. That word had become an insult. Oh, who was he kidding? How did he expect to save his friends in his current state? Thanks to his own human fragility, he hadn't fully recovered from the fight with Ilsemon, even though five days had passed. He couldn't even remember how he'd gotten half the scrapes and bruises covering his body, and he definitely didn't know how he'd managed to burn only his arm in what Tommy had described as "a big, flaming tornado." The only injury he did remember receiving was this…thing on his stomach, and what he did recall wasn't much.

It was like a bullet had slammed into his chest. Takuya had never technically been shot before, but that was the only way he could think to describe it. After that initial blow, pain had burst through his body like a water balloon popping, covering him in soaking wet agony. Then…nothing. When he'd woken up, bits and snatches of conversation had come back to him, most involving Kira's desperate pleas. And, of course, his talk with Agunimon. _Human…_

"Damn it…" Takuya clutched his stomach. That wound was acting up again, the one that looked to him like a black spider web stretching across his abdomen. According to Tommy, it had been worse before, like it was growing, trying to cover Takuya's body completely. Masumon had gotten to work on it right away, and after her treatment, it had receded. Now it just stayed within the vicinity of his stomach, and Takuya could ignore it for the most part. At times, though, it acted up, filling him with agony that was only a faint shadow of Duskmon's original attack, but which hurt nonetheless.

Takuya raised his D-Tector shakily, trying to keep his hands still as his data rose slowly from his palm. This seemed to agitate the wound further, and the pain redoubled upon itself. Clenching his teeth, Takuya fought against the agony and prepared for the familiar conversion of his data. "Spirit…Evol—"

"Takuya." Feeling her gentle touch on his shoulder, Takuya let his arms fall to his sides. It was too late. He'd been caught.

"Turn around, please," Masumon ordered in her sweet, lilting voice. Kouji had mentioned she was a hell of a singer. He should request a song in exchange for coming back quietly. Obeying her request, Takuya turned to face the human-turned-Digimon, a look of indignation on his face. Masumon ignored this look and got straight to work, pressing her glowing palms against his stinging stomach. Instantly, the pain was soothed. Takuya shivered, though he felt strangely guilty for enjoying this healing sensation. Probably because he felt he was betraying Kouji somehow. Her touch was so gentle that he couldn't help liking it, even if Masumon was Kouji's…well, it was hard to say exactly what they were. But Kouji wasn't even there to scold him about it…

_"Are you alright, Takuya?"_

"You idiot." Why had he done this? "Stupid…" Now they were all captured by the enemy. "Freakin'…" They were being tortured, he knew they were. "Idiot!"

_"Why do you think you're here, Takuya?"_

"Kouji cares too much." Takuya was surprised. Staring into Masumon's gentle eyes, his fists slowly began to unclench. She'd tended to his wound, and for the moment it wasn't bothering him. All that was left now was for Masumon to herd him back to his "playpen" to be watched over like a child. Masumon wasn't giving him the same patronizing look as the others, though. Instead, her expression was filled with understanding.

Takuya cocked his head to the side. "How'd you know who I was talking about?"

Masumon shuffled a bit under Takuya's curious gaze, as if she were afraid to answer. "You're frustrated with him, because he couldn't leave you in order to save the others. But…that's how Kouji is. He may sometimes get himself into trouble, but he can't leave someone behind when they need him. It bothers him that he can't adopt a code of apathy; to him, every friendship he makes is fragile, like a ticking time bomb. When it blows and the smoke finally clears, he'll just be left alone again. That's why he cherishes his friendship with each of you so fiercely. He just…he doesn't want you to go away. Being alone scares him more than anything. So…that's why he…"

Takuya stared at his winged companion, trying to stifle the shock he felt. How could she know so much about Kouji in only the short time they'd spent together? _Oh, that's right._ Masumon and Seiko were one and the same person now. Deep down, she was still the courageous girl who had given everything she had for Kouji. Her resolve was admirable, Takuya thought, and he wondered briefly if Kira would do the same for him if she were put in Seiko's position. To his dismay, he realized she would. _She would hurt me to save me…just like Kouji hurt me and Tommy…to save us._

The anger melted inside Takuya, leaving nothing but hollow resignation. How could he risk what Kouji had so valiantly tried to save? He had to stay in the tunnels for now, where it was safe. Tommy and the others would rescue his friends, and he'd be right here waiting for them…no, he couldn't do that! Had he seriously just considered waiting on the sidelines? That was Bokomon and Neemon's job! (_Bokomon:_ Hey!) (_Neemon: *shrug*_)

"Masumon," Takuya said, resolve burning like a flame in his chest. "I know you think I'm not ready to be out and about with these injuries, but I need you to understand, I have to save them. This isn't just some petulant wish to pick fights with nasty Digimon, I HAVE to save my friends. Don't you realize that I got them into this? If I hadn't gone so crazy, maybe we could've escaped, tried again later."

"Not from what I heard," Masumon replied, her expression contemplative now. "In fact, you could have covered their escape, if they'd been willing to leave you—"

"No." Takuya cut her off, remembering what Agunimon had said, about almost killing the others. "Whatever I did, it wasn't good. I could've…they all would have…"

"I know," Masumon stated, her eyes softening with pity. "I understand what happened to you, probably better than anyone else can. Aside from Agunimon, of course."

Confusion widened Takuya's eyes. "What do you mean?"

Again Masumon lowered her gaze, almost as if she were violating some rule by talking about this. "I…can't give you any of the specifics. It's nothing personal, but Agunimon…he probably wouldn't want me to tell you."

"Why wouldn't he…?" Takuya glanced at his D-Tector. The screen was still frozen in the void of white noise. Either Agunimon wasn't paying attention to their conversation or was ignoring them entirely. Did that confirm what Masumon had just said? Was Agunimon keeping secrets from him? More importantly, why would it be necessary?

"I'll say this," Masumon muttered, glancing nervously over her shoulder. Once she'd deemed the area safe, Takuya strained to hear her whispered statement. "You children aren't the only ones with skeletons in your closets." Glancing at his D-Tector, she added, "Your Spirits may be legendary heroes, but they are far from perfect."

Takuya didn't know how to react. Somehow, he wasn't surprised by what Masumon had said. In fact, he realized, he'd always been kept in the dark as far as his partner's past was concerned. He only knew the one story about the Legendary Warriors; they rose up and imprisoned Lucemon, then became spirits, forever charged with protecting their world from any threat that may arise. All this was old news, but Takuya wondered if there could be more to this legend than met the eye. Suddenly, the black and white flecks moving across his D-Tector's screen seemed less like a "Do Not Disturb" sign and more like a warning. "Keep Out."

Before he could ponder this any further, Masumon said, "I think you're right, you know. You should be allowed to go with the others."

This shocked Takuya more than anything else Masumon had said. "But…you're the one who…for real?"

Takuya's nonsensical babbling seemed to amuse Masumon, since she giggled before replying, "I didn't want you to at first, but you're right. It isn't fair to leave you out of the action, and you're rate of recovery has risen drastically since you woke up yesterday. Still, there's the issue of THAT wound…"

"I'll be fine!" Takuya said this a little too hastily, but he couldn't calm his excitement enough to quiet his voice. "I'll be careful, I won't fight anyone unless it's absolutely necessary, I'll—"

Masumon pressed a finger to Takuya's lips, promptly shutting him up. "You'll have to go now if you want to catch up to the others." Then, without warning, she wrapped her arms around the boy, pouring all her hopes for his safe return into this one gesture. It was a quick hug, and Takuya was only in her arms for a second or so before he was being shoved gently in the direction of the RMS. "Go."

Taking a moment to stifle the surprise burning red across his cheeks, Takuya turned, waving a hand in Masumon's general direction as he prepared to take off. "We'll be back before you know it. Then you can smack Kouji for worrying you so much."

"What?" Takuya chuckled as he tore through the trees, just able to picture the blush spreading across Masumon's face. _Now we're even._

Takuya had guessed right; Masumon was blushing. What he hadn't anticipated was the expression of horror on her face as she stared after him. "He knows." She couldn't deny that. Somehow, Takuya had found out about her obsession…no, there was no "somehow" about it. Her feelings were so glaringly obvious that even Takuya had been able to figure it out. (_Takuya:_ -_-) Now they would all find out, even Kouji…

No, Takuya would never be that cruel. He'd tease her, maybe, but he wouldn't divulge her secret, not if she didn't give him permission to do so. And she never would give him permission. Kouji could not know about her feelings; it would only hurt them both. She was a Digimon, and he was a human. That line couldn't be crossed, not ever. She'd even restrained herself from using her dream-walking powers to communicate with the captured Warriors. There was too much risk involved. She didn't have much control over her destination once she was asleep, and she could easily end up in _his_ subconscious…

Suddenly, a small gleam of reflected light caught Masumon's attention, mostly because nothing native to the Dark Continent gleamed. Looking down, she noticed a small red object lying in the dirt at her feet. Reaching down, she lifted the object gingerly between two of her fingers. It was flat, but with a rubbery firmness that allowed only slight malleability. Examining it more closely, she noticed that it was in the shape of an animal, one from the human world; a salamander, with orange stripes painted along the length of its body and tail. Attached to the tail was a metal clasp of some sort. The word for this object came slowly to Masumon's mind, like the memory of a long-forgotten dream; a keychain.

Instantly, Masumon knew to whom this object belonged. "Takuya, you dropped your…" Her sentence trailed off, since Takuya was already lost within the thick darkness of the forest.

—

"Kouichi, wake up!"

With a start, Kouichi blinked his eyes open, instantly remembering where he was; stuck in the same cramped cell Ilsemon had locked him and the others into five days ago. He was curled up tight, his limbs stiff from another night…day…whatever, of trying to make enough room for the rest of his friends to sleep. Their rearrangements yesterday had put Kouichi in a corner with JP on his right and Kouji on his left. Now his brother's hand was placed firmly on his shoulder, an urgent look in his eyes.

Kouichi didn't know why he'd been woken up so abruptly, but he soon got his answer. "Ilsemon's coming," Kouji managed to hiss through his teeth before the Digimon in question was standing outside their cell, twitching her wings in that annoyingly cocky way. Tension fizzled in the air like static electricity. It had been days since Ilsemon's last visit, and they could only imagine what she had in store for them now.

Sagittarimon, who had been dozing moments before, now scrambled to attention, hastily saluting to his mistress. "Ilsemon! Wait, uh, Ilsemon-sama…san…chan…kun…m-milady! That's what I meant, milady!"

The gang stared at their guard with mingled looks of amusement, annoyance and, in Dai's case, sympathy. They thought even Ilsemon would blow a fuse at her bumbling follower now, but her expression remained cool. She didn't even have the usual superior smirk on her face. "Sagittarimon," she said, her voice devoid of emotion. "I will be taking two of your prisoners for a short while in order to perform a certain…task for me."

At the mention of prisoners, a fiercely overprotective urge came over Kouichi. Reaching out, he took Kouji's arm in a tight grip and pulled him as far from the bars of the cell as he could get. His brother's expression held more than a small amount of exasperation at this gesture, but he could understand Kouichi's feelings. Ilsemon had already confessed to an attempt not only on Kouji's, but everyone's lives in the past. Who was to say she wouldn't try again?

This motion wasn't lost on the others and they were soon pressed up against the rough, stony wall, glaring out at Ilsemon through the bars. Kouichi and Zoe shot each other a quick look before their winged captor added, "Oh, and please be sure to inform me of any escape attempts made by the rest of the prisoners. If they so much as try to stick a hand through the bars, I will kill Kouji and Kouichi myself."

_Of course. It's always them._ Everyone else in the cell was giving the twins looks of both horror and determination. It was obvious that they would not allow Ilsemon to take any more of their friends, not when the threat of torture, even murder, hung constantly over their heads in her care. Once that cell door was opened, a fight would break out. Kouji and Kouichi knew this.

So, taking a deep breath, Kouji spoke up. "Fine, we'll go with you quietly. That threat goes for us too, doesn't it? If Kouichi and I try to escape, you'll kill the others."

For the first time that day, the faint traces of a smirk lifted the corners of Ilsemon's mouth. "I thought I'd start with the tall one. That is, if you and your brother don't behave yourselves."

"We will," Kouji replied calmly, while all around him his friends were freaking out.

"Kouji, what are you doing?" Zoe hissed, keeping Ilsemon in her peripheral vision as she unlocked their cell door. "You can't just give yourselves up to her!"

"As I recall, Kouji Minamoto isn't one to just lie down and take orders, either from enemies or friends," JP said critically.

Kouji shot him a cool look. "I'm also not one to sit by and watch my friends being tortured and killed, knowing I could have done something to prevent it."

"Yeah, well…" JP scrambled for an excuse, but could think of nothing to say that would change Kouji's mind. Shino and Dai bit back their protests as well, figuring it would be hopeless to try, while Kira gave the twins a silent look of concern.

Zoe, however, wasn't backing down without a fight. "If that's your decision, Kouji, then I can respect it," she muttered before jabbing her finger in Kouichi's direction. "I might not be able to convince you to stay, but Kouichi hasn't agreed to anything yet. I doubt Ilsemon wants less than the pair of you…"

"That is true," Ilsemon interrupted, silhouetted in the cell's opening.

"Therefore," Zoe continued, ignoring their captor, "if he doesn't agree to give himself up, then you're not going anywhere, either." With that, Zoe folded her arms over her chest, a smug expression on her face.

Kouichi, who had been patiently observing his friends' debate, let out a breathless sound, something between a bitter laugh and world-weary sigh. "Sorry Zoe, but we're going. Kouji's right, we can't just risk your lives because we're afraid of the alternative."

Not waiting for a response, Kouichi rose to his feet, his brother quick to follow. "For now, we'll cooperate with you," he told Ilsemon. The twins had expected her to smirk or chuckle in response; instead, her face remained composed, and a flick of her wrist was the only indication she gave for the boys to follow her.

They'd already passed through the opening when a hand shot out from the cell, grabbing onto Kouichi's arm like a lifeline. Kouji stopped, knowing just as well as his brother who the hand belonged to without seeing her face; Zoe. Ilsemon tilted her head toward the twins, wondering why the footfalls behind her had gone silent. A jolt of panic went through everyone inside and outside the cell as they recalled Ilsemon's warning. _If they so much as try to stick a hand through the bars…_

Zoe, however, was too determined not to let her two friends out of her sight, especially not Kouichi. She couldn't, no, wouldn't allow these brothers to suffer again and again, repeating the cycle of being used for their power. _Darkness, light, why does it matter so much? If it means saving them, I won't let go of Kouichi's arm. I'll fight to my last breath. Ilsemon will know the power of the element wind. She'll feel our wrath, Kazemon!_

_Not so fast._

Suddenly, Zoe felt Kouichi's hand clamped firmly on her shoulder. His touch wasn't as gentle as usual, but there was a reserved edge to the grip as well, like Kouichi was just making a point. This alone wouldn't have been enough to deter Zoe's determination, though she soon realized this hadn't been Kouichi's true intention. Leaning down, he stared at Zoe, paralyzing her with his cool gaze. Then, as quick as he'd grabbed her, Zoe felt herself being jerked forward, then lips pushed against her own, forcing them open.

Neither Zoe nor Kouichi could feel the shocked stares of their friends on them; in that moment, they were alone. Faintly, as if through a layer of fog, Zoe realized that this kiss was rougher than usual. Kouichi was always so gentle with her, but this was entirely different. He was forcing himself on her, desperately grasping onto her courage, something that he, faced with imminent torture by Ilsemon, lacked. Zoe was more than willing to lend her strength, if she could have some of his in return.

It was over as abruptly as it had begun. Once again, Kouichi's gaze met Zoe's, and she saw what she had feared to see in his eyes; acceptance. Thanks to her, _because_ of her, he was more than willing to play his part in Ilsemon's twisted game. For his friends, for Kouji, for her, he would become the sacrificial pawn, a martyr who would take the brunt of whatever Ilsemon had in store for him and his twin. Ironically, Zoe realized, her courage had only fueled this determination.

Without another word to Zoe or any of the others, Kouichi stood, tearing his gaze away from his friends as he trailed after Ilsemon, who had once again begun to move down the corridor. Kouji remained at his side as the two walked in unison, their heads held high despite the fact that this was most likely their death march. Even if Ilsemon didn't kill them, time alone with her could only change a person for the worst.

These were the thoughts that plagued the others minds as Sagittarimon scrambled to re-lock the cell door that Ilsemon, in her apparent haste, had left thrown carelessly open. It wasn't as if these prisoners were about to escape, though. Even Sagittarimon could see that. The blonde girl was too stunned to move, while the other female looked as if all traces of emotion had been wiped from her face. The large one had his head cupped in his palms and seemed to be muttering something to himself; the scrawnier boy had a lost look in his eyes. But the small one, the boy Sagittarimon had learned to refer to as "Dai," was trembling with pure adrenaline, as if all he wanted was to break through the bars of his prison and go on from there, smashing everything in sight. He'd been pushed to his absolute limit, the centaur Digimon could tell. These children were losing friends left and right, and there was absolutely nothing they could do about it.

But there was something he could do. "You'd be pretty happy if you could see your cousin right now, wouldn't you Dai?"

It took Dai a moment to realize that Sagittarimon had spoken and another moment to process his words. "Yeah, that would be nice. Unfortunately, I don't think Ilsemon's feeling all that generous toward us, especially not me. I get the feeling she doesn't like me that much."

Sagittarimon's face screwed up in concentration as he attempted something he'd never before tried in his life; wondering what he could do to help someone other than himself. Dai, however, just thought he looked sick. "Um, are you okay, Sagittarimon?"

"Who cares if he's okay?" Surprisingly, Kira grumbled this from her corner of the cell, an indignant glare plastered on her face. Turning this glare on her small friend, she continued, "Why do you always have to do that? Little mister goody-two-shoes makin' nice with all the nasty Digimon he can find. Get this through your thick skull, Dai; that thing out there is not your goddamn friend! He's an enemy! Who the hell cares if he's okay when he's the one keeping you away from Hotaru in the first place? I swear, sometimes you can be so—"

"That's it!" Sagittarimon's sudden exclamation cut Kira off, and everyone watched as the centaur Digimon rummaged around the underside of his breastplates, searching vigorously for something hidden there. Finally, he produced a bit of twisted metal from his armor, and the gang instantly identified it as the key to their cell. In fact, it was the same set of strange metal keys Renamon had used days ago, then handed off to Sagittarimon. What did this mean? What did Sagittarimon plan to do with those keys?

"Heh, I can't wait to see the look on that guy's face when he realizes I've still got his keys," Sagittarimon chuckled to himself, swinging the metal scraps left and right as he turned to leave. "I'll be right back, guys!"

At this point, everyone was thoroughly confused. "Uh…wait, where are you going?" Dai shouted after their guard.

Sagittarimon turned briefly, giving the gang a look of confusion. "I'm gonna go get your tall friend for you," he said as if it were obvious. Then he proceeded to gallop down the hall and out of sight, smirking to himself.

—

Wizardmon tugged harder on his end of the rope, causing Gotsumon to stumble as they made their way over the rocky ground. It wasn't as if the wizard Digimon wanted to hurt his companion; far from it. But if this plan was going to work, they needed to make this look convincing. The anger in Gotsumon's eyes as he righted himself seemed real enough to Wizardmon.

Two Ankylomon were guarding the RMS's entrance, yet neither of them had noticed Wizardmon and Gotsumon's approach. Wizardmon couldn't help but smirk at this; the RMS had never been a "high security" area, Ilsemon's hubris preventing her from placing any halfway competent Digimon on guard duty. This would work to the plan's advantage.

Finally, when the pair was practically under their noses, one of the Ankylomon took it upon himself to acknowledge their presence. "Whoa, Wizardmon!" the guard exclaimed, shocked by his "sudden" appearance. "Gee, you really are a sneaky guy. I didn't see ya coming at all."

_These two are either inattentive or stupid._ Fighting back an urge to roll his eyes, Wizardmon gave Gotsumon's rope another good tug, bringing him into full view of the guards. "My apologies for being absent so long without reporting my whereabouts to anyone. During the battle, I was captured by this thing," Wizardmon tried to put as much distain into the word as he could, "and dragged into the forest. He probably would have kept me prisoner if I hadn't managed to free myself. Unfortunately, I'd been unconscious during the trek into the woods and had no clue how to get myself out. It took me a while to walk back here, but I figured bringing one of the top dogs in the Resistance as a gift for Lady Ilsemon would excuse my tardiness."

The two Ankylomon glanced at each other, seeming to consider Wizardmon's story. Both Wizardmon and Gotsumon held their breath, hoping this lie had been convincing enough to grant them entrance into Ilsemon's fortress. The first Ankylomon, the one who had spoken, eventually said, "So what you're saying is true, Wizardmon?"

"Of course," Wizardmon replied a little too hastily. "What reason would I have to lie?"

Again, the Ankylomon shared a look. The second guard, who hadn't said anything up to this point, raised an eyebrow at Wizardmon and muttered, "Wow, I guess Lady Ilsemon was wrong to consider you a traitor."

Wizardmon tried to stifle a look of shock, but it didn't go well. "Traitor…?"

"Yeah," said the first guard. "Just after the battle, you and that Impmon guy were pronounced traitors. If we see ya, we're supposed to report your whereabouts to Lady Ilsemon."

Gotsumon glanced at his companion, knowing that now was the time to move on to plan B. Realizing this himself, Wizardmon let the rock Digimon's rope fall to the ground, an action that confused the Ankylomon. Then Wizardmon raised his hand in order to signal the ambush that awaited these dimwitted guards. But before that, he had to ask something. "Tell me, has Impmon been spotted yet?"

The guards gave each other confused looks before replying, "No, nobody's seen him since before the big battle started."

Wizardmon smirked. "Perfect." Then, with a flick of his wrist, Witchmon and Dragramon descended from the sky right over the poor, clueless guards' heads.

—

Renamon glanced up and down the corridor, making absolutely sure that no one else was around. Then, as quickly as she could, the fox Digimon shoved the stone slab out of the way, launched herself through the opening it enclosed…

…and was immediately pounced on by Impmon. "Take dat, ya nasty thing!" he shouted, clinging to her shoulder as he attempted to swing at her head with his eyes closed. Apparently, he still hadn't realized who had walked into the room. "I ain't goin' ta da big house!"

Sighing, Renamon reached over with her paw, the one that wasn't carrying their food, and grabbed Impmon by the back of his bandana, forcing his eyes open. "Oh, uh…hey Renamon!" the imp Digimon muttered sheepishly, allowing Renamon to deposit him onto the ground, then turn to reposition her door so neither of them could be spied upon. "Heh heh, sorry 'bout dat. Guess I'm jus' a little jumpy is all."

_Aren't we all jumpy these days? _Renamon thought as she placed each of the four fruits she'd brought with her gently on her cot. "I'm glad that you're feeling well enough to ambush me, actually. You weren't in such good condition four days ago."

"Yeah, I'm feelin' better thanks ta you," Impmon said as he glanced over their array of food, probably not having realized how happy his words had made his companion. "Oh, an apple! I love these things!"

"I know," Renamon muttered, watching as the imp took an enthusiastic bite of the dull red fruit. (Everything in this place seemed to have a grey tint to it.) "You mentioned that you liked apples, so I thought I would bring one for you."

"Serosy?" Impmon mumbled around another bite of apple, quickly swallowing to make his words more intelligible. "I mean, seriously? Ya found dis fer me?"

Suddenly self-conscious, Renamon turned her eyes away from her companion's inquisitive gaze. "Well, I noticed a tree full of them on my way back through the forest, so…"

A slow smile rose to Impmon's lips. "Y'know, I never woulda pegged ya fer such a nice Digimon a few weeks ago, Renamon. An' now, hidin' me here an' makin' sure Ilsemon doesn't find me…I guess ya really can't judge a book by da cover."

_No._ Renamon had to disagree with Impmon's observation, though she wouldn't say this out loud. Just a few short weeks ago, she truly could have been judged by her outside appearance. Under Ilsemon's employ, apathy was all she'd known, and she'd embraced the numbness rather than fight against it. But after speaking with Duskmon, she'd changed. She hadn't wanted to hide behind an emotional shield any longer. Thanks to him, she felt the courage to stand up for what she believed to be right and wrong. _Thanks to my friend…_

With a start, Renamon realized something she'd nearly forgotten. "That's right. Ilsemon wished to see me in her chambers today."

"Be careful," Impmon said sincerely, sobering at the mention of Ilsemon. "Dat lady's a psycho."

In response, Renamon shoved her stone door out of the way, glanced up and down the hall and, when she'd deemed the area safe, whispered, "You have more reason to be careful than I do." With that, she replaced her door, sealing Impmon in the safe haven no one would ever have thought to search for a traitor.

That is, if Lekismon hadn't witnessed this whole procedure. Once Renamon had turned the corner, the rabbit Digimon waved away the barrier which had hidden her from Renamon's watchful eye. Glancing at the stone slab set into the wall, she murmured, "Interesting…"

—

As he finally broke through the trees and made his way into the open, Takuya slowed his pace. Now that there was no cover to conceal him, he'd have to be more cautious as he approached the tall pinkish structure before him. He already knew how the others had planned to infiltrate the RMS without causing an uproar; using Wizardmon's technically intact status as one of Ilsemon's followers, he would present Gotsumon before whatever Digimon were guarding the entrance, pretending he had captured him. Once he had their full and complete attention, Witchmon and Dragramon would ambush the guards, quickly dispatching them and allowing the rest of the group access into the dungeons, while also delaying Ilsemon's knowledge of their plans.

Takuya didn't want to rush in and ruin everything, so he remained close to the tree-line, squinting across the landscape to try and figure out what stage of their plan the rescue squad was into. From a distance, it seemed as if a scuffle was taking place near the RMS's entrance. There were red and purple streaks flitting through the air, dodging the spike balled tips of their enemies' tails. Takuya raced toward the shapes, figuring he couldn't ruin anyone's cover now. Those red and purple streaks had to be Witchmon and Dragramon, and those spiky golden creatures beneath them were Ilsemon's guards.

However, something occurred to Takuya as he neared the fight. The only two Digimon attacking were the spiky guards, while Witchmon and Dragramon did nothing but dodge their assaults. It even looked as if Witchmon was holding her left arm close to her body, like it was hurt or something…

_Are these guys really that tough?_ Takuya wondered, turning a wary eye on the armadillo-like Digimon. They were covered in large spikes, it was true, and he was sure getting hit with those tails was no walk in the park, but it seemed easy enough to dodge their brutish attacks. Maybe their strength wasn't so much in offense…_but in defense! That's it! Witchmon and Dragramon can't get past their armor!_

Coming to this realization, Takuya allowed his Fractal Code to rise from his palm, prepared to help his friends in any way he could. _I bet if we tipped those things over, their underbellies would be completely exposed to our attacks…and then we can take them out and catch up with the others…_

_Nii-san…_

Suddenly, Takuya stopped. His mind was still telling him to proceed toward the approaching fight, but there was another force tugging at him now. Looking up, he could see the very tip of the RMS, inside which was Ilsemon's private chamber. There had been a platform in that room, and upon it sat a mysterious Fractal Code…

The tug was more insistent now. For whatever reason, he needed to get to the top of this tower. Something was going on up there, and he had to know what it was.

"Sorry guys," Takuya muttered, glancing at the shapes of his two digital friends buzzing through the air. "You're gonna have to handle this without me."

Takuya could feel Agunimon's displeasure as he raised his D-Tector. _You know this is probably a trap. Somehow Ilsemon is playing with you, like a puppet on strings._

"Yeah, I understand that," Takuya muttered, deciding on a Beast Spirit evolution this time around. He could probably use the extra fire power, not to mention the wings. "Still…I don't feel like I'm being manipulated."

The data flared around his palm, BurningGreymon's spirit flashed across the D-Tector's screen. It was time. "It's more like I'm answering a cry for help."

—

_~Duskmon?~_

Subduing her normally cheerful tone of voice, Nina muttered Duskmon's name again, practically pleading for his attention at this point. But the swordsman remained obstinate, giving no indication that he heard her. Even if he did, he probably didn't care enough to respond. He hadn't responded to much of anything over the past twelve hours, choosing instead to remain curled up in the cavernous stone enclosure Ilsemon had issued him as his "room" within the RMS. Though it was located near the dungeons, a dank and cold place in the bowels (Heh heh…iCarly) of the fortress, it afforded a fair amount of privacy. In Nina's opinion, this was both good and bad for her swordsman.

Of course, if she was truly this concerned for Duskmon, she didn't need to rely on his willingness to talk. Yes, he'd closed his thoughts off to her, but there was nothing stopping her from forcing her way into his mind…no, that was strictly forbidden. Doing such an underhanded thing would break nearly every law that she and those of her kind had set down for themselves. They weren't gods, after all, hardly considering themselves omnipotent, and as such needed restrictions upon their already limited abilities. Without a creature's permission, she could do nothing but try to sway their decisions; their free will was still their own. But when Duskmon had attacked that boy…

_What…what did I just do?_

Nina shook the memory off like a troublesome fly. It had nothing to do with the current situation, therefore she ignored it. Instead, she continued to press her warrior to speak. _~Dusky, please talk to me!~_

The cold from the stone walls was seeping steadily through Duskmon's armor, and Nina knew if she could feel the chill, she'd be shivering. Duskmon barely seemed to notice. He just sat with his legs held tight to his chest, face hidden against his raised knees. Since yesterday he'd been like this, not even moving to slake his hunger or thirst.

_~Yesterday…~_ Suddenly, Nina realized what was fueling Duskmon's melancholy. _~Dusky…you're thinking about what happened with the Warrior of Steel, aren't you?~_

Nina hadn't actually expected Duskmon to respond to this question, so when he finally spoke she was a bit startled, though he hadn't raised his head and his words were therefore muffled. "I know why you saved me from disappearing, Nina. You pitied me, naturally, but everyone considered me so formidable that you thought I'd be a perfect tool at your disposal."

_~I don't think of you as a tool…~_ Nina muttered, stung by the harsh picture her warrior was painting of her.

Duskmon remained oblivious to her discomfort and continued, "It doesn't matter how you see me. The fact remains that I've willingly given my services to you; I am your tool, and I was content with that…for awhile. Now I'm too defective to be anything but a hindrance to you…"

_~That's not true, Dusky!~_ Nina protested, though her words held no heat. She had to agree with at least some of the points Duskmon presented…

Noting her half-hearted response, Duskmon smirked underneath his mask. "You know it's true, Nina. You've known it since Kouichi kicked you out and you were forced back to me. Once, I was a great assassin, one of the best. I always thought it had something to do with my combat skills. Heh, not even close. Any creature could match my abilities if they worked hard enough at it. No, what made me such a feared opponent was my apathy. Even in a sparring match, I wouldn't hesitate to kill my challenger if his guard was down. I didn't care at all whether someone lived or died. I had no friends, no meaningful connections to Digimon or humans…for a while, Nina, you revived that apathy. But I understand why it couldn't have lasted."

Nina wanted to stop her ears against this tirade, but she felt it would be discourteous not to listen to her warrior as he continued. "I'm real now. Before, I'd just been corrupted data grafted onto the body of some unfortunate human who happened to stumble into our world. It was Kouichi who gave me life, and it was his brother and that damned Warrior of Fire who took it away. My corruption should have ended there, I should have been destroyed! But no, you needed a vessel, and my own mortality scared me so much that I took you up on the offer. When you gave me a body of my own, something I was never meant to have, it took away a vital piece of my anatomy; my inability to feel. Why should a virus feel anything, after all? From the beginning, my existence was supposed to be momentary. With this data-filled body, I gained something I was never meant to have. I gained the ability…to care. But now, with my own self-revulsion working against me, I'm no use to you as a killer, no use to you at all…"

_~Dusky…~_ Tears began to flow down Nina's frozen cheeks as she realized the grave error she'd made, not just two years ago, but a little over a week ago. Duskmon was right; he had never truly been alive before she'd resurrected him. He'd never known what having a heart meant, and when she had left him for Kouichi, however brief a time she'd been gone, he'd changed. She hadn't been there to numb his feelings, so they'd all crashed down on him at once…_ ~Dusky…I-I'm sorry…~_

"Why are you apologizing?" Duskmon asked, his voice an inflectionless monotone. "I won't bother blaming you for this, since that would just be a waste of time…but I know how you can fix it. Nina…you have to start over."

_~What do you mean by that?~_ Nina asked cautiously, concerned by Duskmon's suddenly deadpan mood.

"Nina…" he began, pausing dramatically to emphasize his point. "You have to hollow me out and make me nothing but a mindless, soulless puppet. It's the only way I can ever be useful to you again."

_~What?~_ Nina squeaked in surprise. _~Dusky, no…I can't do that! If I took away you're will, you'd be…~_

"You're tool?" Duskmon finished, chuckling bitterly. "Don't you think I know what would happen if you took this heart away from me? I've given this some thought, ever since I struck Takuya with that attack…see, now I'm even learning their names!"

_~That's what this is about?~_ Suddenly realizing what had been troubling the swordsman, Nina giggled. _~Dusky, you don't need to worry about that! It was just a one-time thing. I panicked, but I won't let it happen again. I promise.~_

Duskmon sighed wearily. "You don't understand at all. Your taking momentary control over me was never the problem. What concerned me was the fact that you had to resort to those measures. You gave me a direct order to kill that child, and I froze up. Then, once you finally got my ass in gear for me, all I could do was feel guilty about it! I'm broken, Nina, but you can fix me! You can make me what I was before, what I'm supposed to be! I just…I want my purpose back, Nina. Please, give it back to me."

Nina was scrambling for an excuse now, anything that could convince Duskmon not to ask this of her. His logic had been spot-on, and she had to agree with what he was saying…but taking away his free will would break the law. She simply couldn't do that, couldn't destroy a creature's every thought and feeling…suddenly, Nina recalled the one friendly connection Duskmon had managed to make with anyone other than herself. _~If I turned you into nothing but my obedient puppet, you would lose Renamon forever…~_

"Don't bring her into this!" Finally stirring, Duskmon launched himself to his feet, fire burning in his eyes as he glared into the dark void of his empty room. Anger was causing the tips of his swords to protrude from his forearms, but he held them back long enough to compose himself. Feeling the wary smugness in Nina's smile, he fell back against the wall, leaning heavily on the cool stone as he sunk to the floor. "That was underhanded."

_~But it worked!~_ Nina retorted cheerfully, knowing she had won this round. _~You may have tried to cut off ties with Renamon, but you still really like her, don't you?~_

"Shut up," Duskmon mumbled, covering his burning cheeks with his arms. "Our friendship is over."

Nina wanted to say something positive, to tell Duskmon how fond she was sure Renamon was of him, how readily she would invite him back to her side, but a red-hot exclamation suddenly cut off any of her previous thoughts. _Execute! Beast Spirit Evolution!_

_~Oh, fludge!~_ Nina cursed.

"Fludge?" Duskmon murmured in confusion. (Author's Note: Yeah, this is something I say a lot. I don't know what it means, I just added an "l" to "fudge" for some reason. :P)

Ignoring Duskmon's puzzlement, Nina explained, _~The Warrior of Fire…I just felt his presence. He's here, right now!~_

Duskmon glanced around the dark room. "I don't see him anywhere."

_~This is no time to be sarcastic, Dusky!~_ Nina shouted, trying to pinpoint the location of the fiery heat burning at the fringes of her consciousness. No, he wasn't anywhere inside the RMS, but he was close. So close that she could feel the darkness pulsing through him, a small remnant of the mark Duskmon's attack had left. It was such a slight amount that she doubted anyone realized he'd been infected with the element. But this worked to her favor. _~He's outside, headed for the top of the tower. Oh no, that's where Ilsemon is going to…I have to stop him!~_

Nina's first instinct was to rush through the walls of the RMS's dungeon, making her way out into the open. Then she could latch herself onto the small black pit throbbing deep inside the goggle-headed warrior, using her power to freeze his limbs…but that would require her full attention, and she'd have to leave Duskmon all alone.

Sensing her reluctance, the swordsman muttered, "Shouldn't you be stopping him now? Ilsemon's planning something big up in that tower, isn't she? I'll be fine down here for a bit. You just go."

Nina's face lit up with an appreciative smile. _~Thank you, Dusky. I'll be back as soon as I can! Wait for me here!~_

As Nina's comfortably frozen presence left his mind, Duskmon felt the full weight of his filthy, guilt-ridden pain crash down around him. Trying to cling to the numbness, he cemented Nina's last order to wait for her into his mind, resolving at least to follow her will in this instance, no matter what occurred. "As you wish…master."

—

"And here we are." With a flourish of her arm, Ilsemon invited the twins inside her private chamber, the open-air room at the very top of the RMS. Kouji and Kouichi didn't bother to mention that they'd already crashed this space without preamble during the battle; they figured she must already know.

"Y'know, it's common courtesy to let a lady enter a room first," Kouji stated, trying to cover the fact that he wasn't keen on turning his back to Ilsemon, even for a second.

"Hence my inviting you in ahead of me," Ilsemon retorted, chuckling to herself.

The twins rolled their eyes. "Really mature, isn't she?" Kouji muttered to Kouichi as they strode past their winged captor. The older twin just shook his head in exasperation, making sure to keep Ilsemon in his peripheral vision at all times.

Once the boys had reached the middle of the chamber, Ilsemon waved her hand forward, and within moments two very big, very nasty-looking Digimon had taken her place as sentries at the foot of the stairs. Only when they were in position did Ilsemon make a move toward the twins. This action confirmed one thing; despite their promise not to make an escape attempt due to her threats, Ilsemon didn't trust the twins for an instant. It was almost gratifying to be considered so defiant by their enemy, though in this situation it just proved to be a hindrance.

Kouji and Kouichi watched as Ilsemon strode toward them, matching wary looks on their faces. Regarding these looks with a smirk, the humanoid Digimon reached inside a fold of her dark robe, producing two objects so familiar to the twins that they had to force themselves not to rush Ilsemon in order to retrieve them.

Holding a D-Tector in each hand, Ilsemon held them up for the twins' further examination. "As you can see, no harm has come to your little toys under my care. I've simply put them away in storage, but I thought for this particular task, it would be prudent to strengthen the bond you share with your spirits through physical contact. So here you are. Take them."

For a moment, neither Kouji nor Kouichi moved, eyes trained on the devices resting in Ilsemon's palms, waiting to be snatched away from her. The twins certainly wanted to grab them, keeping Lobomon's and Lowemon's spirits as far away from this psychotic maniac as possible. But they knew better than to think this was just some gesture of good will on their captor's part. Ilsemon had even stated that taking their D-Tectors back from her would benefit her plans. Still…

Kouichi's hand shot out almost against his will, grasping his D-Tector tightly between his fingers as he pulled it close to his chest, feeling Lowemon's calming presence fill him to the brim. Quick to follow his brother's example, Kouji reached for his device as well, plucking it out of Ilsemon's hand before she had a chance to grab it back and say something like "Oops, too slow."

Once both the twins had their D-Tectors back in their possession, Ilsemon smiled cordially. "See, it's possible for us to cooperate with each other to satisfy all of our interests! I've scratched your back, and now you can scratch mine."

The twins regarded her coolly, still not sure what she had planned. With their D-Tectors returned to them, it would be a simple matter to Spirit Evolve and bust their way back to the dungeons, freeing the others and getting the heck out of this madhouse. But they still didn't know where Hotaru was being kept, and with Ilsemon's lightning-fast reflexes, it wasn't as if they'd be able to complete the Evolution process before she managed to stop them. That, and she still had everyone else's D-Tectors.

Kouji and Kouichi shot each other a telling glance, silently deciding to play it cool and find out what Ilsemon needed them to do. If they could bide their time and wait for an opening, the opportunity for escape could be possible. They just had to wait.

So, with wary curiosity, the twins remained silent as Ilsemon began to speak. "First of all, I should apologize for my rather blunt behavior down in the dungeons. You see, today represents a very special event for me, and I was a bit impatient to move on with these proceedings. Now, however, I feel more alive than I have in almost two years! And I owe it all to the presence of you and your brother, Kouichi."

Kouichi jumped slightly, surprised that Ilsemon would single him out to address. Kouji just mocked outrage at her obvious preference. "Oh, so I'm just the brother now? Heh, figures."

He wasn't feeling as snarky a second later when Ilsemon, using her ninja-like speed (Ha, it's funny because ninjas are fast!), appeared behind Kouichi, linking her arms loosely around his neck in what could have been considered a loving embrace were it not for the hungry way in which Ilsemon regarded her captive. "I suppose I feel a certain kinship with this boy, just as I felt a kinship with your spirit, Lowemon. Those who share the bonds of an element are drawn to one another."

Kouichi wasn't feeling drawn to Ilsemon in the least. "Let go of me," he said tightly, trying to keep his fear contained so his show of forcefulness would be more…well, forceful. Luckily for him, Kouji's cold glare boring into Ilsemon's skull was beginning to vex her, so she heeded his request and lowered her arms. Thanking whatever god happened to be listening that his brother held himself with so much more confidence, Kouichi shot Kouji a grateful glance, one that his twin returned with a look of relief.

Ignoring this silent exchange, Ilsemon sauntered slowly around the twins as her tirade continued, "Yes, the both of you have made this day possible, but you aren't the only help I shall require to complete this task. Until this other help arrives, let me share the rest of my more recent history with you. We can start where I left off previously, right after Lucemon's defeat at your hands.

"If you'll recall, I mentioned that I didn't spend much time observing you after you returned to your own world. Weren't you wondering why this was?" The twins didn't attempt to consider an answer, so Ilsemon provided one for them. "It's simple, really; I was busy. After you'd been pushed through the portal back to your world, my sister had deemed it safe to release me. Moved by some misplaced pity at my dejected state, she left me to rejoin her companions in their celebration. This was a foolish choice on her part. Even as I was preparing myself to admit defeat, I noticed a small piece of Fractal Code floating through the void of space, cut off from the data which had reformed the Digital World. Upon closer inspection, I realized whose data it was."

Stepping on the hidden platform that JP had found by accident five days ago, Ilsemon backed up as a stone platform rose up from the middle of the floor. The twins weren't startled to see the Fractal Code swirling atop the structure, but they were a bit shocked when Ilsemon revealed the owner of the data to them. "This precious Code belongs to my brother. Deep inside this mass of data is my Lucemon."

"That's impossible!" Kouji stated in outrage. "We purified Lucemon's data, and then it kinda turned into fairy dust or something…yeah, I'm not really sure what happened there, but there was definitely no Fractal Code involved! And then when we defeated his pure demonic side, it opened like a piñata and spilled data everywhere, still with no Fractal Code in sight!"

"The hell did I miss in these episodes…?" Kouichi muttered to himself, eyes wide with confusion.

Ilsemon, on the other hand, was shaking her head at Kouji's lack of understanding. "What you've said is true. Neither Lucemon's pure or dark sides produced anything that could be considered a Fractal Code. I'd thought for a moment that there would be no way for me to revive him…but my brother took one other form, the larva controlling the dragon, the last remnants of Lucemon manifesting into that compact form."

"We defeated that thing too," Kouji retorted, glancing at his D-Tector. "Or rather, the Legendary Warriors defeated it. But the larva's data just disintegrated after it was destroyed. There still wasn't any Fractal Code."

"There was a Code," Ilsemon said, gently stroking the data on the platform. "I suppose that you and your little Warrior friends were too busy saying your goodbyes to notice this small bit of data form and fly off. You thought you'd won, but my brother refused to admit defeat, even when the odds were so clearly stacked against him. You at least have to admire his tenacity."

"Yeah, that definitely outweighs the fact that he killed me," Kouichi muttered under his breath.

Ignoring that comment, Ilsemon's story continued, "With this data in hand, I hatched a plan to revive my dear brother, bringing him back to his former glory. But I needed a new method by which to bring about his rebirth. (Hint, nudge, hint.) Data collection is much too risky, as it attracts so much unwanted attention. I had to work more secretively this time. So, once Hallucimon had found and rejoined me, we set off to put my plan into motion.

"At first, I'd thought it would be as simple as splicing this data with that of another Digimon. Surely my brother's influence would win out over the simpletons I selected, but that was the problem. Lucemon's consciousness was too much for them to handle, and they were consumed and destroyed each and every time.

"These constant failures led me to thoughts of you." Kouji and Kouichi couldn't help but flinch as the hungry glint in Ilsemon's eyes intensified. "The spirits of the Legendary Warriors. I'd encountered some problems finding hosts for these bits of data as well. Especially those Spirits of Darkness, destroying every Digimon that presumed to control them. Countless powerful, clever creatures obliterated by darkness…but not an eleven year old _human_ boy."

"You said it yourself," Kouichi stated, holding his D-Tector ever tighter. "I was destined for these spirits."

"Indeed," Ilsemon nodded in agreement. "You were destined to handle those spirits…but why were you able to wield such control over them with much less effort than Digimon fifty times more superior than you? What made you so special? That is where Nina comes into this tale."

"Nina?" The twins spoke her name at the same time, both with outrage and hatred plain in their tones of voice.

Ilsemon chuckled. "Oh dear, she has bred a deep antipathy in you, hasn't she? Though it's not as if I haven't done the same, but that is barely the point. You see, Hallucimon and I eventually ended up in the Dark Continent after our weary travels, dejected after finding no one to bond with my brother's data. I'd already sent Wizardmon, Gatomon, and Impmon out on a scouting mission to find more Digimon sympathetic to my goals. The Dark Continent, as I saw it, would be a perfect place to set up a base of operations. We'd been searching for a suitable location when, like a devil straight from hell, Duskmon came into our midst, offering up his services in exchange for you, Kouichi."

Kouichi glared back into Ilsemon's frozen eyes without comment, so she continued, "With him came Nina. This was joyful news for me, as you can well imagine. Finally, I had found a being to answer all my unanswered questions. She'd been reluctant at first, worrying over the consequences of revealing such 'classified information.' Eventually, though, she explained why you'd all been able to Spirit Evolve with no negative costs to your bodies. It's a simple explanation; one night when you were all quite young, small pieces of your respective elements had been forced into your bodies as you slept. Think of it as 'immunization' against the sheer, all-consuming power a Digimon's spirit can possess."

"Okay, wait," Kouji said, raising his hand to halt the story. "We…what…how does that even work? I mean, wouldn't being exposed to such highly concentrated elemental power have been a little too much for a bunch of kids to handle?"

"They were small doses, meant to grow inside you over time," Ilsemon explained. Almost to herself, she added, "Though something may have gone wrong when the element Earth was placed inside that short boy. I suspect a larger piece of Earth's power was forced inside of him too soon, and his body is slowly rejecting its spread."

The twin's eyes grew wider as they considered Ilsemon's theory. Could Dai's health really be suffering due to his own element? Since they'd met, Dai had been in so much contact with Grumblemon's spirits, and he truly seemed happy to be part of their group, but was it affecting his health? Was his association with the Digital World, with all his newfound friends…killing him faster?

Kouichi clapped a hand over his mouth, shocked and horrified by this realization. Kouji just shook his head, almost refusing to believe it was true. Satisfied by the distraught looks on the twin's faces, Ilsemon shrugged. "Of course, this is just a theory. Nina was in charge of 'immunizing' Kouichi; she had nothing to do with that other boy, and therefore doesn't know specifically what went wrong. But this piece of information proved to be very useful for me, opening the door to a brand-new possibility. For the first time, I considered using a human to bond with my brother's Fractal Code."

Kouji came to the sickening realization before Kouichi. "You're going to use one of us…to bond with Lucemon?"

As soon as the words were out of his brother's mouth, Kouichi's protective instinct kicked into gear. Moving right to his younger brother's side, he shot Ilsemon the dirtiest glare he could muster. He wouldn't, no, couldn't allow that to happen to Kouji. In his mind, his twin's safety came long before his own. If it came down to the question "Who would Ilsemon use for her twisted plans?" the answer would be Kouichi every time. He'd make sure of it.

In response to Kouji's question, though, Ilsemon laughed. Not a little smirk or chuckle, but full-blown laughter, as if what Kouji had proposed was completely ridiculous. Once Ilsemon had calmed down enough to speak, she replied, "Oh, no no no, boys. You're both much too practiced in the art of wielding a Digimon's spirit. Even with my brother's immense skill, there would always be the possibility of you breaking free from his hold. No, I needed a human inexperienced in these matters, preferably young and naïve, easily manipulated. In short, a child."

The twins were growing less and less shocked by the minute at Ilsemon's sadistic behavior. "You're planning to bring an innocent human child to this world in order to resurrect your brother?" Kouji asked, his voice numb from shocked blow after shocked blow.

Instead of affirming Kouji's statement, Ilsemon said, "I will be needing you two for a different purpose. You see, my brother was a very special creature indeed, able to control and even combine two elements widely known to be polar opposites; light and dark. How convenient it was for me to have reaped such wonderful benefits in that last battle. Both the Warriors of Light and Darkness imprisoned within my dungeon, the only other creatures known to have bridged the gap between the light and the dark! I gave you five days of rest and recuperation, so now you must be chalk full of your respective elements. Given the copious amount of these elements inside you, I'm sure it would be no trouble at all to borrow some of your power…"

The realization crashed down on the twins like a tidal wave. "We're not helping you corrupt a child," Kouji growled, one hand balling into a fist, the other curled around his D-Tector. Kouichi took a similar stance, just as set against Ilsemon as his brother.

Ilsemon only sighed at their determination. "You assume you have a choice in the matter? Don't be so presumptuous! In case you've forgotten, you are my prisoners. Perhaps you don't care what I do to you, but there is a cell in my dungeons full of your closest friends just waiting to be tortured, and trust me, I would derive great pleasure from dragging each one of them up here and—"

"He's here, Lady Ilsemon," one of the hulking guards suddenly stated, interrupting Ilsemon's rant. She was so pleased by his news, though, that she hardly noticed the interruption.

Shooting a smug look in the twin's direction, their captor said, "I'd like the both of you to meet a very special someone, though I believe you already know who he is."

Kouji and Kouichi tensed, expecting some sort of annoying blast from their past to come and bother them, just for Ilsemon's amusement. Some idiotic Digimon like Sagittarimon, or…

Not a Digimon at all. The guards parted, allowing Renamon and that person to enter Ilsemon's chamber. The fox Digimon was shuffling along behind the other person, an abashedly shameful glint in her small blue eyes. But Renamon hardly mattered. That person was standing before the twins, a slightly perplexed look on his face. Kouji and Kouichi were more than just perplexed.

Since no one seemed to be making any attempts at greeting one another, Ilsemon took care of the introductions. "Kouichi Kimura and Kouji Minamoto, I'd like you to meet Lucemon's catalyst, Shinya Kanbara."

—

_Takuya:_ Oh, son of a whore!

_Zoe:_ Okay…well…you know, I really can't think of anything to say that would make this chapter better for you.

_Kira:_ I think I can. Hey Taki, wanna go wreck Madjack's stuff?

_Takuya:_ Hell yeah I do!

_madjack89:_ What's this about wrecking my stuff?

_Dai:_ Oh, hi Madjack! What are you doing back so early?

_madjack89:_ Eh, just watched The Disappearance of Haruhi Suzumiya, then decided to come see how you guys were doing. And I take it Taki's not liking this chapter very much.

_Takuya:_ If I wasn't gonna kill that bitch Ilsemon before, I'm definitely gonna do it now!

_madjack89:_ …Yeah, I kind of expected this reaction. Anyone else care to comment on the chapter?

_JP:_ Fludge?

_madjack89:_ Okay, we're wrapping it up here. See you guys next chapter!

_Dai: *looking through my recently acquired DVDs from my birthday*_ Oh, the complete series of Chobits! Break out the cookies, we are so watching this!

_Kouichi:_ What's with all the Crispin Freeman and Michelle Ruff in these DVDs?

_madjack89: *shrugs*_ Your voice actors are awesome like that?

_Kouichi and Zoe: *nod*_ Very true.


	44. Ch 44: Room of Angel

**Frontier 02: Rebirthing – Chapter 44: Room of Angel**

_madjack89:_ Hey guys! Took a while, but here's chapter 44!

_Takuya:_ What took you so freakin' long?

_madjack89:_ You sound tense, Takuya.

_Takuya:_ You're damn right I'm tense! Just look at the cliffhanger you left us on!

_madjack89:_ Heh, yeah. Sorry. But just think how much more awesome this chapter will seem because of the wait!

_Everyone:_ -_-

_madjack89:_ So…how is everybody?

_Shino:_ Actually, we were just talking about the last two episodes of Xros Wars: Hunters.

_Kira:_ And this, readers, is how Madjack's youtube video ties into the story. You thought she stuck me in there randomly? Pshaw!

_madjack89:_ …Oh. Is that why Kouichi looks so annoyed?

_Kouichi:_ …

_JP:_ Yeah, he's refusing to acknowledge the crossover.

_Kira:_ No shocker there. Most of you may not have gotten lines, but Chief was completely _shafted_ by Toei on this one.

_Zoe:_ Hey, it's okay, Kouichi. Maybe Hunters will get a continuation and they'll include the rest of us!

_Kouichi:_ …

_Zoe:_ Okay, that might be wishful thinking…

_JP:_ Personally, I'm still trying to figure out how I can be Beetlemon in one place and Kouji can be MagnaGarurumon in another.

_Kouji: *shrugs*_ Who really cares?

_madjack89:_ Actually, JP makes a valid point. I mean, MagnaGarurumon is probably considered your least likable Digimon form among fans, so why would they include it in the episode, even silhouetted?

_Kouji:_ That's my least likable form?

_JP:_ You're surprised by that? Dude, MagnaGarurumon is weird!

_Kouji:_ What…?

_Kira:_ I'm with JP, that thing's annoying as all get-out! Like, what's the point of giving him such big guns if he runs out of ammo in five seconds and has to shed all the dead weight?

_Dai:_ And he kinda looks like a girl underneath all the armor!

_Kouji:_ What?

_Kira:_ Exactly! And then there's the whole "we're stealing everyone else's reason for being here by taking their Spirits and leaving them defenseless" thing. At least EmperorGreymon is halfway likable so you don't want to throw a shoe at your computer screen every time Taki evolves into him!

_Takuya: *smirks*_

_Kouji: _That's not seriously what the fans think, is it?

_madjack89:_ Why do you think I haven't included any Unified Spirit Evolutions in the story?

_Shino:_ Because the rest of us would be sitting ducks?

_madjack89:_ Yeah, and I don't really like MagnaGarurumon.

_Kouji:_ How did I not know about this…?

_madjack89:_ Aw, it's okay! One sucky evolution doesn't detract from you being an awesome character!

_Kira:_ Yeah! Your personality does that for you!

_Kouji: *glares*_

_madjack89:_ Alright, it's review time!

_*break*_

_Immortal Fallen Radiance:_ Don't worry, there will be a threequel! And thanks for reviewing!

_Asarikou-chan:_ Hey, it's not my fault that they're drama magnets. (_Kouji:_ Hmph.) (_Kira:_ Ha, even the fans agree with me, pretty boy!) (_Kouji:_ Again, hmph.) Thanks for the review! (_Duskmon:_ Come at me, bro. Come at me.)

_GarnettFox:_ Look, he's here now! Yay! (_Darkgramon:_ Is she always this hyper?) (_Duskmon:_ Yes.) (_Darkgramon:_ Fantastic.) Thanks for reviewing!

_CrossoverxToxThexDarkxSide:_ Ha, nice username! (_Takuya:_ Yes, yes I will.) Heh…thanks for reviewing!

_cherrrysakura:_ Well, there could still be an epic fight between Tommy and Shinya… (_Tommy: *sweatdrop*_) (_Kouji: *sigh*_ Of course I will. I always am.) That's the spirit! Thanks for the review, cherrry!

_supersaiyandigidestined:_ (_Ilsemon:_ I'm a villain. It's what I do.) Wow, that's sounds like one randomly awesome crossover! I'll try to give it a look-see sometime. Thanks for the review! Long live me! XD

_GoldenDragon326:_ If you thought _that_ was plot relevant, keep reading. Shinya is Takuya's younger brother. He was a minor character in both my fanfiction and the actual series. Anyway, thanks for the review!

_Aldamonburst:_ Thanks for the belated wish of birthday happiness! No, this story won't have anything to do with the other Digimon seasons…for now. (_JP:_ Wait, what?) Thanks for the review, Burst! And thanks for that interesting tid-bit of information, Kaito!

_Zanzibar1:_ Thanks for the review!

_TobiGB:_ (_Patamon, Salamon, and Lopmon:_ Yay big brother Cas!) Wow, you three would go behind my back and grab them. Oh well, it was nice of you guys to leave a review! (_Zoe:_ We'll be sure to keep your advice in mind. Thank you!)

_Musical Darkness:_ Yay, my plot twist worked! (_Takuya: *glares*_) I'm sure Xemy is glad to be here. (_Xemnas:_ No.) Anyway, thanks for the review. (Sorry I kept the suspense up for so long, by the way!)

_Twinfactor:_ (_Dai:_ Yay cookies!) (_Kira:_ You're already one of our favorite reviewers!) Not hard to win your hearts, is it? (_Dai and Kira:_ Nope!) Thanks for the review! Oh, and I like your username. :)

_Digigirl(0202):_ (_Kouji: *sigh*_ I get it.) Ha, thanks for the laugh! (_Kouji: *glares*_)

_silver fire wolf:_ You only kinda expected Shinya? (XD I thought I made it obvious!) (_Xemnas:_ …I'm going to ignore that comment you just made about me and give you permission to challenge Marluxia.) Oh, sounds like a hardcore fight's about to go down. Anyway, thanks for the review!

_*break*_

_madjack89:_ Okay, let's get to the chapter before any more vaguely threatening PMs are sent to me!

_Takuya:_ I'll do more than vaguely threaten you if you don't get on with it.

_madjack89:_ Heh, chapter time…?

_**Author's Note:**_** Since you're about to be officially introduced to him below, there's no harm in me saying I don't own Darkgramon, who was mentioned back in chapter 34. He's owned by GarnettFox, but don't worry SOPA, I got her permission to use him. :P**

—

"Well, here it is, finally."

The small black Digimon sat up on his haunches, regarding the "Rose Morning Star" with a critical eye. Cocking his head, he couldn't help but wonder at the structure's rather non-menacing façade. Shouldn't the base housing the largest, most powerful threat currently terrorizing the Digital World be a little less…pink? He chose to shrug off the design choice, though, figuring one shouldn't judge a book by its cover. Lord, did he understand that…

Examining his crimson claws, the miniature dragon pondered what he should do next, now that he'd found this place. He hadn't pressed any of his sources for more details about this "Ilsemon" character than what would be necessary to locate her. After all the hear-say floating around the Digital World about her plans to revive Lucemon, he hadn't needed much more convincing to see what was taking place in the Dark Continent for himself. It wasn't as if he felt any sense of loyalty to Lucemon or to anything he represented. He just wanted to place himself in the middle of all this red-hot action, to feel his data stirring with pleasure as he rent creature after creature wide open with his claws…

That was when he felt it. A bright, shining presence he'd been cringing away from for years, a face that haunted his best dreams and worst nightmares. Here. She was here. But why was she here? She'd never go along with these high-flung resurrection schemes, not in a million years…no, surely she'd want to stop Ilsemon's plans.

His pointed teeth gleamed in the faint light cast by the RMS. This could definitely work to his advantage. From what little he knew about his prospective employer, he'd gathered that a show of strength or loyalty would be the only way into Ilsemon's ranks. And if his meddlesome sister was here causing trouble, surely stopping her would be considered a worthy show of both loyalty and strength.

Darkgramon unfurled his wings, a menacing gleam in his eye. "This should be fun."

—

_Guys._

Peering inside Ilsemon's chamber, BurningGreymon's gaze instantly settled on the two dark-haired humans standing in the middle of the room. His limbs shook so much that he was afraid his claws, which he was using to grasp the edge of a window, would produce too much noise as they scrapped against the RMS's hard surface, thereby exposing him. But he couldn't calm himself enough to steady his arms, nor any other part of his digitally-enhanced body. Inside this chamber, glaring down their worst enemy with such defiant courage, were two of his best friends. _Kouichi…Kouji…_

Seeing the twins alone with that winged psychopath had almost made BurningGreymon dispense with caution and burst into the room like a bat out of hell, but not only would that be reckless and stupid in his condition, he'd also be endangering his friends' lives if he fired his attacks so randomly. There was nothing he could do at the moment besides observe the situation and wait for the right opportunity to strike. But if Ilsemon made any threatening moves toward his friends, if she even looked at them the wrong way…

Ilsemon didn't appear to be harming the two, though. In fact, it looked like they were just having a conversation. The wind had picked up outside the RMS, carrying the sound of Ilsemon's voice away so that BurningGreymon couldn't distinguish what was being said inside the chamber. He was, however, able to pick out a few words: light, dark, elements, power. Whatever their captor had said to them using those words hadn't gone over well with the twins, as Kouji appeared to bite back a retort at her, Kouichi standing stony-eyed and silent beside him. Ilsemon responded to their glares, but suddenly stopped and turned as if someone had interrupted her. Taking advantage of her distraction, BurningGreymon lifted his head over the window's edge in order to better observe the chamber's surroundings.

Both the twins and Ilsemon were facing the doorway that led to the RMS's long, winding stairwell, the opening through which he and the others had burst into this chamber just five days ago. Now there were two burly-looking digital guards at the entrance, but at Ilsemon's command, the hulking Digimon stepped aside, allowing two figures to enter the room. One of the figures was Renamon. The other was…

BurningGreymon's claws nearly slipped from the stone and sent him plummeting to the ground. But even though his grip remained steady, his mind had spiraled into a confusing abyss. No, that couldn't be who he thought it was. This was a trick of the eyes, the chamber was filled with shadows, he was seeing things. No, no, and no. There was no denying who the boy was that stood before the twins. The wind changed, carrying Ilsemon's voice back toward the window, but her introduction was unnecessary. Takuya would have recognized that child anywhere.

"Kouichi Kimura and Kouji Minamoto, I'd like you to meet Lucemon's catalyst, Shinya Kanbara."

_Shinya._ What was he doing here? What was Shinya, his brother, doing here? In this world? With Ilsemon? No, this didn't make sense. This wasn't happening. It couldn't be. No, no, no. Shinya was at home, safe in the human world. Takuya had made sure of it. He'd waved Shinya goodbye. Nothing else had happened. His brother was safe…but what was he doing here?

These questions all flashed through Takuya's mind in an instant. It didn't matter how or why Shinya was here. That was unimportant. All he saw in that chamber was his little brother, so small and vulnerable, with Ilsemon just waiting to pounce. No, he would not let that happen! If there was any time to come out of hiding, it was now. He had to save Shinya. His older brother was going to protect him. "Sh—"

Suddenly, two invisible hands clamped onto BurningGreymon's shoulders, shoving his head down until he could no longer see inside the chamber, could no longer see his brother or friends. Then the hands multiplied, pushing him forward and pinning his chest hard against the RMS. His legs, wings, and tail were held taut, and though his claws still gripped the ledge of the window, they were frozen in place. Even his mouth was clamped shut, while his eyes remained wide and fixed with a look of confused horror. What was going on? Why couldn't he move?

That was when an unfamiliar chill began to creep slowly through his body, freezing each of his limbs so that he couldn't move even if he managed to break his invisible bonds. Takuya's thoughts spun as he began to panic. He was somehow being held here against his will, unable to get to his brother or friends. How was that possible? Could Ilsemon be doing this? Perhaps his Spirit could provide some answers. _Agunimon?_

_~No, Warrior.~_

Instead of Agunimon's warmth, Takuya's head was filled with a high-pitched female voice as chipped and cold as the ice in his limbs. This new presence sent a thrill of unidentifiable fear through Takuya, but at the same time, it all seemed familiar. The icy chills, the excitable energy emanating from the voice in his mind, it was something he'd experienced before, albeit in a half-dazed state. This overpowering sensation, this…darkness.

She giggled, once Takuya had figured it out. _~Very good, Warrior! Yes, you're correct. I am the true face of Darkness, known by the name Nina. And you, Goggles-chan, are now my prisoner!~ _

—

Tommy held himself flat against the dungeon walls, limbs stiff with apprehension as he watched Wizardmon poke his head around the corner, just to make sure the coast was clear for their group to proceed. Luckily, unlike their last disastrous rescue mission inside the RMS, the Resistance members now had a guide to follow through the maze-like hallways, and Wizardmon was even fairly sure where Ilsemon would be keeping her captives. For these reasons, Tommy was willing to trust the wizard Digimon, much more so than his companions. The other Digimon in their group, who'd been introduced to Tommy as Terriermon, Elecmon, and Gazimon, were trying their best to give Wizardmon the cold shoulder, occasionally asking him questions or giving advice, but mostly keeping their mouths shut. (Well, Terriermon was admittedly more outspoken than the others.) Gotsumon in particular seemed to have a grudge against their newfound ally, no doubt thanks to Gaomon's murder at Wizardmon's hands. But for the sake of the mission, Gotsumon kept his thoughts to himself, and Tommy could tell it was killing him to do it.

Terriermon, however, seemed to have no trouble voicing his opinions. "Can we get on with it already?" the dog-like Digimon groaned, rolling his eyes at Wizardmon's back. "Sheesh, how long can it take you to check a hallway for guards?"

"It doesn't hurt to be careful," Wizardmon replied softly and, Tommy noted, without a hint of his former arrogance. No one was entirely sure why Wizardmon had decided to defect from his former mistress (he hadn't chosen to reveal his reasons to anyone but Witchmon), but since he'd become an ally of the Resistance, the wizard Digimon had certainly changed. His pride, his cockiness, all of it seemed to have been beaten from his system, only to emerge slightly in the presence of his sister. Mostly, though, he kept to himself, revealing information when he could and agreeing to participate in this rescue attempt.

_No, not attempt!_ They _were_ going to get his friends back, Tommy was sure of it. Still…the suspense was beginning to get to him, despite the brave front he was putting up. That's what this world had taught him to do; swallow his fears and stick up for his beliefs. But this fear he felt now wasn't directed toward his own safety. His friends had been trapped in Ilsemon's madhouse for one long, excruciating week. It wasn't that he didn't have confidence in their ability to cope under such circumstances. He'd just seen firsthand the condition in which Ilsemon typically left her prisoners…

Motioning his comrades forward, Wizardmon finally plunged around the corner, followed by the rest of the Resistance group. Tommy clutched his D-Tector tightly as he ran, almost hoping for a reason to Spirit Evolve and beat a gang of Ilsemon's underlings black and blue. But there was no need to get hasty. As long as he remained in human form, they could still pass as prisoners of Wizardmon's…maybe. Somehow, Ilsemon knew of her former follower's treachery, putting a slight dent in their plans. At least Witchmon and Dragramon were taking care of the guards outside. Their intrusion wouldn't be discovered for a while yet.

Suddenly, Wizardmon held up a warning hand, signaling the others to stop. Terriermon stifled a groan as they all pressed themselves against the wall, allowing Wizardmon to peek around yet another corner. After scrutinizing each individual shadow looming between the lights on the wall, Wizardmon turned back to the others and whispered, "These cells down here may be where Ilsemon's keeping the other Legendary Warriors. It's where she usually houses high security prisoners."

Tommy had to press a hand against his mouth to contain a shout of joy. If there was even a chance that his friends were in that hallway, that he was so close to rescuing them…

"We are _not_ going to try to squeeze Dai between the bars, JP!"

The sudden shout that echoed down the hall made Wizardmon flinch and duck behind the corner, but a huge smile lit Tommy's face as he recognized the clearly irritated female voice. "Zoe!"

Before anyone could stop him, Tommy had rounded the corner, glancing inside barred cell after barred cell as he rushed down the dungeon hall. Most were empty, and his anxiety grew until it overshadowed his caution. "Zoe! Where are you?"

A long, tense moment passed as Tommy awaited an answer. His companions had caught up to him and were about to grab the boy and shuffle him out of the hallway, when a hesitant reply came from a few cells down. "Tommy?"

Relief flooded through Tommy with hurricane force when he saw a small, clearly human hand poke itself between the bars of its cell, waving tentatively as an indication of its owner's presence. Tommy wondered why Zoe would be acting so cautious until, with a smirk, he realized that she wasn't completely sure it was her friend speaking to her. As the Warrior of Ice let his feet carry him toward Zoe's cell, he happened to catch Wizardmon's muttered warning to Gotsumon. "All that shouting might have attracted some unwanted attention. I think I should go check the surrounding hallways for possible ambushes."

"Take Terriermon with you," Gotsumon replied hastily, falling into step behind Tommy as they made their quick way down the hall. Normally he wouldn't have been so trusting of his former enemy, but unlike the other Digimon in their rescue squad, Gotsumon was an old friend of the Legendary Warriors and, much like Tommy, he was more worried about them than he seemed.

"Guys, it is Tommy!" And like that, Tommy and Gotsumon could release their held breaths as they found not only Zoe, but Dai, JP, Kira, and Shino sitting within a rather small cell for a group their size, looking relatively unharmed. Their eyes did seem a little blood-shot, and they looked rather bedraggled, but that was only to be expected from spending an entire week in such cramped quarters. Tommy had expected worse.

At first, the collective impression of the group inside the cell was that of surprise. "Gotsumon and…Tommy?" JP muttered, appearing absolutely dumbstruck by his young friend's presence. "Where in the _hell_ have you been?"

"I think what JP means is that we couldn't find you during the fight against Ilsemon, and we were worried," was Zoe more diplomatic response.

Tommy had to fight back tears of joy as he replied, "It's really good to see you guys, too."

"It is," Gotsumon added, struggling to put his serious face back on. "Unfortunately, now isn't the time for heartfelt reunions. We have to get you guys out of here."

"Before that, tell me one thing." Both the groups inside and outside the cell jumped when Kira suddenly spoke up. Now that his attention had been directed toward her, Tommy could finally see that, despite his initial conclusion, his friends were far from fine. From her position in a rather dark corner of the cell, Tommy could just make out the expression of hopelessness clouding Kira's normally bright features. Taken aback by her out-of-character melancholy, Tommy realized that now all of his friends' eyes were trained on him, each of their faces mirroring Kira's. Then she asked her burning question. "Is Taki okay?"

Suddenly, Tommy understood what was wrong. Physically, his friends were unharmed; mentally, they'd been pushed to their limits. Beaten soundly by Ilsemon, watching helplessly as Takuya was felled by Duskmon's attack, forced away by the enemy while their friend, their leader, lay dying before them…these truths couldn't have been pleasant to reflect on all this time. What his friends needed after the torturous week they'd endured, Tommy realized, was simply information. They needed to know what had happened on the outside, what state the Resistance was in after their battle, whether Takuya was alive or…

"Huh, stunned silence. Not a good sign," JP muttered, chuckling briefly. The others followed his lead, plastering nervous smiles on their faces. But seeing his friends' attempts to hide their exhaustion from him didn't fuel Tommy's pity, as it should have; rather, it fueled his anger. _They always, _always_ do this to me! Why can't they just stop babying me and realize I'm not a kid anymore? _I'm_ the one who came to save _them_! _I_ saved Takuya, all on my own! Sure, it was Kouji's plan, but…_

Something that should have been glaringly obvious occurred to Tommy then. "Guys, where's Kouji? And Kouichi?"

"Hotaru's missing too, but I expected as much after what Takuya told us," Gotsumon added, glancing at Kira with a small smile on his face. "He's alive and well, back at the base."

At this news, Tommy noticed his friends begin to perk up, looking again like their normal, cheerful selves. Kira, in particular, beamed as relief flooded through her. "Finally, we get some good news in this hell-hole!" she exclaimed, prompting the others to shush her enthusiasm. In a more contained tone, Kira said, "Heh, sorry. Anyway, we don't know where the heck Taru is, but pretty boy and Chief are off playing martyr, as per usual."

"Playing martyr?" Tommy didn't like the sound of that.

"Ilsemon came and took them somewhere a little while ago," Shino explained, for some reason glancing apologetically at Zoe as he said it.

A strange melancholy descended over Zoe's features at the mention of the twins. "Ilsemon said she wanted Kouichi and Kouji to do something for her. She threatened our lives if they didn't comply. We didn't have a choice but to let them go…"

Tommy wasn't as shocked by Zoe's statement as he was by the tears he could see beading in her eyes. Sympathy for his friend began to flow through Tommy, washing out his earlier burst of anger. Still, that seed of frustration remained within his mind, unsettling Tommy with its ferocity. Where had all these bitter feelings come from? Unwilling to follow this train of thought, Tommy distracted himself with Kira's next comment. "Don't worry about Zee, guys. Chief just pulled at her heartstrings earlier in his little Chief-y way." To Zoe, she added, "I can smack him for it later, if you want."

"Oh, now she's suddenly Chatty Kathy again?" Shino mumbled under his breath, prompting a smirk from JP and Dai.

Ignoring the boys, Zoe rubbed at her eyes until they were dry, and then flashed a smirk Kira's way. "Thanks for the offer, but if anyone's going to smack Kouichi, it's gonna be me."

"Oh boy, looks like Chief's a dead man," JP muttered, mockingly joining his hands in prayer. "So young and full of life…"

Kira and Zoe both shot JP a glare. "Shut up, JP."

While the others bantered amongst themselves, Tommy and Gotsumon turned to each other and smiled. It seemed there was nothing to worry about after all. With a little rest and recuperation, their friends would be fine. But first, they had to release them from their prison. Raising his hand above his head, Gotsumon motioned Elecmon and Gazimon forward. The two Digimon hadn't wanted to intrude on the gang's reunion and had stood a ways back from the others, but now there was work to be done. Addressing his captive companions, Gotsumon said, "Guys, this is Elecmon and Gazimon. They're members of the Resistance. We brought them here to take down the barrier around your cell. Once we do that, it should be a simple matter to break through the bars and get you out."

"Barrier?" Dai, along with the others inside the cell, seemed confused by Gotsumon's statement. "What barrier are you talking about?"

Sighing heavily, Elecmon stepped up to the cell and tried to grab one of its bars. To the prisoners' shock, when his paw was mere inches from touching a bar, it came to a halt seemingly in mid-air. But everyone could see the strain in Elecmon's muscles as he pushed against the invisible wall, and the others realized that there was indeed some sort of barrier surrounding the outside of their cell. "You really weren't kidding, Gotsumon-sama," Elecmon muttered, glancing between his paw and the metal bars. "This barrier won't be easy to break."

"Let me see if I can claw my way through it," Gazimon said, lifting her claws to…

"Whoa, you're a girl?" JP exclaimed, noting the clearly feminine tone of Gazimon's voice. The others tried to shush him, but even they, particularly the veteran gang, were surprised by this Gazimon's gender.

Gazimon was clearly agitated by their shock. "Yes, I am a girl. Is that a problem?"

"Of course it's not a problem, it's just…we didn't know that there could be female Gazimon," Zoe replied sheepishly. "You're the first girl of your species we've met."

"How could you think my species was exclusively male?" Gazimon retorted angrily, blushing a bright red. "There are males _and_ females in almost every species of Digimon!"

"Actually, I was a little surprised that you were a girl, too," Tommy mumbled, placing himself behind Gotsumon in case Gazimon decided to lunge at him.

"We should get back to taking down the barrier, Gazimon," Elecmon said calmly, trying to soothe his partner's anger before she ripped Tommy apart.

Crossing her arms over her chest, Gazimon huffed. "Fine. We'll break this barrier…then I'll be sure to give these children a little 'talk' once they're free."

The gang didn't like the sound of that, but they were nonetheless elated at the prospect of regaining their freedom. Their excitement caused them to fall silent and watch as Elecmon ran his paw across the invisible barrier which had gone completely undiscovered by them during their time of imprisonment. This was what puzzled Dai the most about their situation. "So there's been a barrier around our cell this whole time, keeping everyone away from us. But then how can we stick our hands through the bars?"

To demonstrate his point, Dai slid his hand between two of the bars, wiggling his fingers at the others for emphasis. The rest of the gang, including Tommy, was puzzled by this phenomenon. "If we had our D-Tectors, we'd be able to break the bars and get out from inside," Shino muttered thoughtfully. "But we don't."

"So she did take your Spirits," Gotsumon mumbled, confirming the information to himself. Turning to the gang, he explained, "When we split up in here to rescue Masumon, Tommy and I came across a hall of cells similar to these. Elecmon and Gazimon are our experts on force fields and such, so when we got back to the base I asked them about the barrier we'd discovered. They had a good idea what we'd be dealing with from my description."

"The barrier is flexible," Elecmon stated, brushing his paw against Dai's hand. Flinching, Dai withdrew into his cell. Elecmon smirked sheepishly. "My apologies. But you understand now, right? This type of barrier is a double-edged sword of sorts; outsiders can't force their way in, and neither can prisoners escape, even if they manage to break through their restraints."

"I didn't feel his paw at all," Dai muttered, still staring dazedly at his open palm. "What would've happened if we'd managed to break our way out of here earlier?"

"Well, you'd have made our job a lot more complicated," Gazimon replied curtly. "You wouldn't have gotten far, anyway. This barrier's flexible, but it can only stretch so much before…snapping."

The gang collectively gulped at the image Gazimon presented. "I told you not to squeeze Dai through the bars," Zoe stated smugly, glancing at JP.

"Yeah, maybe that wasn't my best plan," JP mumbled, running a hand sheepishly through his hair. "Sorry 'bout that, Dai."

"It's fine," Dai replied, a nervous smile planted on his face. Sobered by the danger they'd nearly put Dai into, the imprisoned gang settled down to watch Elecmon and Gazimon go to work on the barrier.

After several more moments of careful observation, Elecmon lifted his paw from the barrier's invisible surface. "It's just as we thought, Gazimon," he told his partner, who nodded in response. "Wait until I give the signal, then claw at the central point."

"Right," Gazimon replied, lifting her claws menacingly as she turned toward the bars. This was hardly a reassuring sight for the gang, and the rabbit-like Digimon smirked at their apprehension. "Relax, kids. I'm not going to hurt you."

"I'm ready to begin, Gazimon," Elecmon said, standing before the silver keyhole set into the wall on the right side of the gang's cell. It wasn't shaped like a normal keyhole would have been, instead resembling a long, thin rectangle, the same shape as the "key" the others had noticed Sagittarimon using before. Carefully, Elecmon placed one of his claws into the hole, and the gang wondered for a moment whether he would try to pick the lock. However, they soon noticed electrical sparks pulsing along Elecmon's tail. The mammal Digimon winced slightly as these sparks traveled through his midsection, passing the length of his arm before making their way into the lock. The prisoners jumped back when the barrier around their bars, which had been invisible previously, flashed as if struck by a bolt of lightning. Suddenly, Elecmon's actions made sense. Using his body as a conduit for the electricity stored in his tail, he had managed to pass that power through the lock of the cell and, in doing so, had penetrated the barrier's internal structure, perhaps even weakening it.

Once she saw a second flash light up the barrier, Gazimon raised her claws and drilled them into the barely-visible barrier, slashing away at it until the electrical charge burnt itself out. Several times during this assault, the barrier had seemed about to give way, but a quick test from Gazimon's claws showed it was still up and running.

"Damn it," Gazimon cursed, frustration clouding her features.

Elecmon, who appeared to be the more stoic of the two, merely gave the cell's bars a determined look. "We'll just try again." They did try again, Elecmon running electricity through the barrier's inner structure while Gazimon battered away at the surface, but their efforts were in vain. Four different times they attempted to break through the gang's prison, and each time the barrier visibly bent under the Digimon's assault, but nonetheless stayed in place.

Both Elecmon and Gazimon were exhausted by this repetitive process, and everyone could see it. "Maybe you should take a break…" Zoe began tentatively, not wanting the two to overexert themselves.

Gazimon growled in response, shooting Zoe a cocky look. "You kidding? I could keep this up all day!"

"This is more of a challenge than we'd originally anticipated," Elecmon muttered, giving his partner a stern look to cool her annoyance. Turning to Gotsumon, he added, "We could be discovered any minute now by Ilsemon's remaining forces, or worse, by Ilsemon herself. Gazimon has weakened this barrier to the point of collapse, but it won't seem to break. Perhaps you could give us some assistance, Gotsumon-sama?"

Gotsumon smiled in response, seeming to have anticipated this request. "Leave it to me, Elecmon. Just give me a moment to Digivolve."

"Wow, you can Digivolve?" Dai exclaimed, staring at Gotsumon with a look of shock and amazement. "That's so cool!"

The rock Digimon's smile widened, his pride fed by Dai's praise. "Well, I did help Kouji out once with this evolution. We took on the Royal Knight's henchmen single-handed."

Dai's eyes sparkled with awe, and even Kira and Shino looked impressed by Gotsumon's story. The fact that Kouji had needed help at all, and had gotten some from this little Digimon, must mean that his evolution was pretty powerful. Tommy, Zoe, and JP hadn't actually seen Gotsumon Digivolve that time, so everyone leaned forward, expectant to find out what form Gotsumon would take. Spurred on by their excitement, Gotsumon allowed his Fractal Code to flare up, wrapping his body in a stream of data. A light flashed from within the data-filled cocoon, blinding everyone momentarily. When they'd recovered their senses, Meteormon stood in their presence.

Everyone was shocked silent by the transformation. Meteormon was about a foot taller than Gotsumon and covered in a bright, almost metallic type of rock. The dungeon hall was lit up in Meteormon's white brilliance for a moment, or at least he thought it was. Giving the others a sufficient amount of time to take him in, he finally said, "So? What do you think?"

The gang glanced at each other, not knowing how exactly to put their thoughts into words. Kira spoke before they could come up with anything. "So you're an albino Gotsumon now? That's it?"

Meteormon was appalled by Kira's lack of respect. "What do you mean, 'that's it'? My power is increased at least ten-fold in this form!"

"Wow, different colors give you different abilities," Kira retorted, egging her ally on. "Hey, if we painted you pink, would it give you a gay-dar?"

Fuming, Meteormon signaled Elecmon to retake his position at the lock and prepare for another assault on the barrier. "I'll show you how strong my Digivolution is!" With that he raised his fist, awaiting Elecmon's signal to strike. Soon everyone could see electricity coursing along the outer edge of the bars, prompting Meteormon's attack. "Big Bang Blow!" Charging forward at an unnaturally fast speed, the rock Digimon's fist collided with the barrier, setting off an explosive surge of power which kicked up so much dust that everyone was momentarily blinded. Meteormon smirked, positive that his attack had managed to dismantle the barrier, but when the dust had settled, he found his fist still suspended mere inches from the bars of the cell.

The others were disheartened by the barrier's fortitude against such a powerful attack, but Kira was in such high spirits that she began to chuckle. "Oh no, Albino Gotsumon's punch was ineffective! Maybe we should get the Red Ranger in here to help you out, or possibly Johnny Yong Bosch. Whatever makes the fans happy."

"Do you really think _we_ should be making Power Rangers references, Kira?" JP asked, sighing heavily.

Meteormon, on the other hand, looked about ready to explode from Kira's comments. "That does it!" Furious and embarrassed, Meteormon raised his arms in order to form his most powerful attack. Slowly, a strange vortex of dark energy grew above his palms, and from this vortex fell a volley of flaming rocks, all headed toward the gang's cell. Seeing this, Tommy dashed forward in an attempt to halt Meteormon's attack, but it was too late. The meteors were already making a beeline for their intended target.

"Falling Star!"

—

"Kouichi and…Kouji?" For once getting Kouji's name right on the first try, Shinya cocked his head at the twins, not as if he were surprised by their presence, but rather confused. However, to the twins slowly growing horror, instead of questioning them about the situation, Shinya turned to Ilsemon and asked, "Where's my brother?"

Ilsemon was unfazed by the question, despite her direct involvement in Takuya's absence. Putting on one of her characteristic smirks, she coolly replied, "Unfortunately, the Warrior of Fire could not be here due to…extenuating circumstances."

_Yeah, extenuating circumstances that you caused!_ After seeing the look of rejection that descended over Shinya's features, this and other much nastier insults formed in the twins' minds against Ilsemon, but they were both still shell-shocked by the strangeness of the situation and thus refrained.

"So he isn't coming, then," Shinya muttered, a bitter smile crossing his face. "Not even for me…"

"No need to fret, child." Kouji and Kouichi could feel their cool slipping as Ilsemon placed her hand lightly on Shinya's shoulder. He didn't even flinch at her touch, a touch that would have sparked the twins' unease and fury. Obviously, Ilsemon wasn't Shinya's enemy, or at least he didn't think she was. Kouji had already realized what was going on, and he was sure Kouichi had as well, but Ilsemon's next statement only served to confirm their suspicions. "I can see how special you are, even if Takuya cannot."

And like that, the twins snapped. Their Fractal Codes all but burst from their palms as they each raised their D-Tectors, preparing to start the evolution process, then proceed to rip Ilsemon apart. "Spirit—"

The guards by the stairs made a motion toward the boys, but Renamon was much quicker. In a flash of speed, the fox Digimon had her arms curled around Kouichi's and Kouji's necks, abruptly cutting off the air circulating to their lungs. Kouji dropped his D-Tector in his panic, clawing at Renamon's fur in an attempt to free himself. It was a useless struggle; his inescapable human frailty was no match for Renamon's digitally enhanced strength. White spots were forming at the edges of Kouji's vision when Renamon finally released both him and Kouichi. She watched the two fill their lungs with much-needed air for a moment, then muttered, "Don't try that again, or I'll be forced to do something more drastic."

_More drastic_. Kouji wasn't sure he liked the sound of that. After checking that his brother was okay, Kouji crouched to retrieve his D-Tector, making a mental note to keep one eye on Ilsemon, and the other on Renamon.

Shinya had watched the twins' defiant display with a strangely disapproving, almost fearful, look on his face. "I see. So now _you're_ trying to kill me?"

"What…?" Kouji could hardly form a coherent thought, let alone an entire question, after _that_. It seemed that everything was spiraling further and further out of his control, and to make things worse, Ilsemon was just letting this conversation run its course. She merely stood by her "catalyst," hands dangling carelessly at her sides, black wings twitching in that annoyingly cocky way. She hadn't even cared when the twins had tried to Spirit Evolve; the smirk had never left her face. Finally, Kouji managed to ask, "Shinya, what are you doing here?"

Shinya's expression was twisted with bitterness as he glared the twins down. "You mean, why am I here in _your_ world, in my _brother's_ world? Because I'm not wanted here, right? Because I can't become a Digimon like you, right?"

Kouji flinched at Shinya's accusations, not understanding where all this was coming from. "No. I mean, why are you here with Ilsemon? Takuya told you about her, didn't he?"

"He mentioned the name before you left," Shinya replied, sporting a casual tone as if to make up for his over-emotional outbursts. "He told me you still didn't know what she was capable of, and that I should be careful in case she sent more Digimon to our world. Heh, looks like he was right."

Shinya's eyes softened at the memory, but his cold expression soon returned. "Takuya's warning wasn't enough. I was no match against Hallucimon when he came for me."

"Hallucimon?" Kouji's eyes narrowed to slits at the mention of the name. "Damn it…"

The ghost of a smile lifted Shinya's lips. "I don't like him either. He's way too sneaky." In a more serious tone, the boy added, "He brought me so close to you, just to snatch me away at the last minute…"

"What do you mean?" Kouichi asked gently, trying to sound at ease in order to calm Shinya down. This conversation seemed to be restoring the younger boy's good humor, and the twins assumed this might break Ilsemon's hold over him.

However, Kouichi's question seemed to have the opposite effect. With resentment blazing in his eyes, Shinya gave Kouichi his response. "Isn't it obvious? You ran into Hallucimon at the Fortune Telling Village, didn't you? What did you think he was doing there?"

Kouji's eyebrow rose in confusion. "We thought he was tailing us."

Shinya laughed at Kouji's assumption, a broken, cold chuckle. "Don't flatter yourselves! Ilsemon knew you would come to her. She didn't need to have you followed."

"We met some other hostile Digimon along the way," Kouji retorted, bristling at Shinya's boastful tone. "Most said they worked under Ilsemon. Riddle me that, kid."

"Calm down," Kouichi muttered, cautioning his brother to remain cool. To Shinya, he said, "If Hallucimon wasn't following us, why was he at the Fortune Telling Village?"

Either Shinya was ignoring Kouichi, or he'd lost himself briefly in his own recollections. "I heard your voices," he muttered, eyes focused on what must have been an intriguing crack in the floor. "I knew you wouldn't find me, but I was just too hopeful for my own good. Takuya was there, so everything would be okay. That's what I thought."

A mirthless smile distorted Shinya's young face. "But nothing was okay. Don't bother patronizing me, you two. I'm here because I want to be."

_Bullshit_. Kouji breathed sharply through his nose, trying to control the anger simmering inside him. "Hallucimon brought you here, right? Against your will?"

"I told you, I'm here because I want to be!" Shinya repeated himself impatiently. "Why is that so hard for you to believe?"

The twins gave each other a long look. Then Kouji turned to Shinya and asked their unspoken question. "What has Ilsemon been telling you?"

Shinya had to hold his sides as laughter shook his small frame. "Oh, _now_ I see what it is! You don't trust me."

"We trust _you_, Shinya," Kouichi stated firmly, his gaze settling on Shinya's supposed "benefactress." "We don't trust _her_."

From her position beside Shinya, Ilsemon pouted mockingly at the twins. "And I was under the impression that we were getting along so well now. You both answered my invitation, after all."

"What are you talking about?" Kouji half asked, half growled this question at his adversary. "What 'invitation'?"

"Don't act as if you don't know," Ilsemon scolded, wagging a playful finger at Kouji. It took an extreme amount of willpower on Kouji's part not to respond to his enemy's teasing. Chuckling at the boy's furious glare, Ilsemon proclaimed, "Of course you both understand what a special day it is! This, after all, will be the day when my dear catalyst," here the winged Digimon placed her hand once again on Shinya's shoulder, "will rise up and assume the form of the legendary ruler and savior of the Digital World, Lucemon! My brother will be reborn, and Shinya will finally have what he desires. Isn't that right, Shinya?"

Shinya nodded, not a hint of doubt or fear betrayed in his expression. Kouji had to admit that, in his moment of conviction, the young boy looked just like his brother. Takuya would have been proud. "It's a win-win situation. Ilsemon wants her brother back, and I want to become a Digimon like the rest of you. Then he'll have no choice but to notice me."

"You're doing this for attention?" Kouji bit his tongue before a string of insults could tumble out of his mouth. He had to choose his words carefully in order to earn back Shinya's trust. So, taking a calming breath, Kouji explained, "Shinya, Lucemon was a tyrant. He plotted the destruction of his own world, and he nearly broke his way into ours to do the same. Reviving Lucemon won't be the same as what we do with our Spirits. You won't be in control. He'll take over."

"I know who Lucemon is. Don't you think I paid attention when Takuya told me all this Digital World stuff?" Shinya retorted, his voice harsh with raw emotion. "You're right. Lucemon probably will take over. I won't be me anymore…but I'll be something even better. Something that Takuya can't help noticing!"

Before Kouji could tell Shinya how stupid his logic was, Kouichi intervened. Holding a hand out to halt his brother, Kouichi turned and shook his head slowly, almost solemnly. Then he took a small step forward, testing the limit of Renamon's patience. When she didn't immediately lunge at him, he began, "If you've ignored everything we've said up to this point, at least listen to me now. Shinya, you are being used. Ilsemon will use you to get what she wants, and you'll be helpless to stop her."

Shinya smirked. "Why would I want to stop her?"

_Gee, I don't know, because you'll end up hurting the person you're trying to impress? _Kouji was burning to chew this kid out now, but he'd decided to let his brother handle the situation. For Kouichi, this had clearly become personal. Though his twin's expression remained calm, Kouji could see the pity he felt for Shinya unmasked in his eyes. "It's like we're kindred spirits," Kouichi murmured just loud enough for his brother and possibly Renamon, who stood behind them, to catch.

Shaking his head slightly, Kouichi pulled himself out of his dark recollections. "I suppose you have a point there. Why would you stop the one who's trying to help you reach your goal? Nothing else has worked, and this is sure to grab your brother's attention, so why not go for it? Even if you lose yourself, at least then you won't have to feel the constant sting of rejection."

Shinya had to admit that he was startled by Kouichi's incite. How did he seem to know all of this? How could he so poignantly describe Shinya's feelings? Beside Kouichi, his brother—_Kouji, right?_—had actually lowered his gaze from Ilsemon for a second, staring guiltily at his feet. All of this sensory information swirled around in Shinya's head, confusing him, angering him. "What do you know? You have your awesome twin brother who's always by your side, always there for you when you need him!"

"Not always." Shinya was struck dumb by Kouji's curt statement. The guilt in the younger twin's eyes had spread to the rest of his face, until his entire expression conveyed the agony of his conscience. What in the world wasn't Shinya getting here?

Kouichi shot his brother a short, worried glance before his gaze returned to Shinya. "Believe it or not, I do understand, Shinya. I get how frustrated you are with Takuya. You think he's ignoring you unintentionally…or maybe not. Maybe he knows exactly what he's doing. Maybe he's found someone to replace you."

"Tommy." The name slipped through Shinya's lips before he could stop it.

Kouichi didn't seem surprised by the information. "Takuya and Tommy, the perfect pair of surrogate siblings. But wait, aren't you Takuya's real brother? He's replaced you with someone better, is that what you think?"

"Stop," Shinya muttered, limbs trembling with fear.

"You have to face this, Shinya. It's the only way to fight her." Kouichi gave Ilsemon a pointed glare, pressing forward, "And Tommy's your friend. You've been betrayed on all fronts, haven't you? Takuya, Tommy, they're both laughing at you behind your back, amused at how stupid you are."

"Stop it now." Shinya's eyes were wide and gleaming with painful tears.

Kouichi tried to ignore the boy's pleading look as he continued, "It's a lie, Shinya, and you know it. Maybe it's hard, but you have to talk to Takuya and Tommy. Tell them what you're feeling. They'll help you, but only if you give them the chance."

"H-how do you know?" Now a stutter had formed in Shinya's voice. Tears hung at the corners of his eyes, his breath came in short gasps, his mouth was dry with apprehension. They'd reached the climax now. Shinya would either be tipped one way or the other. To Kouji's annoyance, Ilsemon's hand still rested securely on the younger boy's shoulder.

Takuya and Tommy were both unaccounted for, possibly even dead, but Kouichi nonetheless planted a smile on his face. "You know your brother. Takuya would never betray you, and neither would Tommy. They'll listen if you just tell them the truth."

_Truth._

The word shot through Shinya like a bullet, shattering what was left of his self control. With tears of frustration streaming down his cheeks, he shouted, "Oh, you want to know what the truth is? Okay, here's the truth! Takuya never paid any attention to me, even before Tommy came along! I've always idolized him, so it was no shock to me when I found out he was practically a superhero. I wasn't scared; I was too proud of him to think he was a monster…but Tommy was a hero too. He got to be part of this special club that I could never join, no matter how hard I tried! And boy, did I try. I've always, _always_ tried to get my Nii-san's respect, but all we can ever do is fight and argue with each other! But Tommy! Oh, he's just the absolute paragon of greatness! How could I ever hope to compete with a gang of superheroes when I'm just plain old me? The harsh fact is that I'm not good enough for my brother, not good enough for Tommy, not good enough for Nanami—"

Shinya clamped a hand over his mouth, cutting himself off a second too late. He watched as the twins' identical blue eyes slowly widened, recognizing what Shinya had always fought to conceal. But he could no longer conceal the terror in his eyes, nor the blush spreading across his cheeks, and the revelation finally formed in Kouji's and Kouichi's minds.

_Shinya has a crush on Shino's little sister..._

Suddenly, a huge tremor shot through the chamber floor, causing nearly everyone to stumble or fall. Reacting quickly, Ilsemon unfurled her wings, grabbing Shinya and launching them both into the air, then shooting toward a point somewhere behind the twins. Kouji couldn't track her speed with his eyes, so he concentrated on helping his brother back to his feet. As soon as they were up, though, another tremor knocked them back to the floor, this time producing cracks in the stone around them. The twins watched as a particularly dense series of fissures shot out from the stone below Ilsemon's hulking guards, traveling down the length of the stairs and disintegrating the structure in a matter of seconds. With nothing to support them, the two huge Digimon fell along with the crumbling stone, their shrieks quickly becoming lost in the abyss.

The twins barely had time to panic before the floor underneath them lurched, tipping slowly toward where the stairs had been. With no other hand or footholds for support, Kouji grabbed Kouichi's arm for dear life as the two began to slide down the smooth stone, heading toward the darkness below. Just as they were starting to pick up speed, though, something grabbed them both from behind, digging its fingers firmly into their jackets and shirts. Turning his head as best he could, Kouji found their savior to be Renamon, and he briefly wondered how the fox Digimon had managed to hold her footing on the slippery stone. Then his vision adjusted to the particles of dust and rock shooting out from every inch of the chamber, and he noticed Ilsemon's dark wings flapping in the background. Her arm was wrapped securely around Renamon's waist, suspending them all in mid-air. In her other arm, she held Shinya.

But something appeared to be wrong with the young boy. Ilsemon was struggling to keep Shinya in her grip as he convulsed, shaking wildly and uncontrollably from head to toe. His eyes were strangely blank despite the spasms wracking his body, but Kouji was more interested in what was happening to Shinya's Fractal Code. It was visible, floating around him in a never-ending ring of data-filled energy. But there was something odd about it. Every couple seconds, the outline of a larger, clearly more powerful Fractal Code flared up around Shinya's, completely eclipsing the boy's data. Even as Kouji watched, the Code was becoming more solid, chipping away at Shinya's defenses. Slowly, it was taking over…

"Renamon, do it now!" Ilsemon shouted, clearly realizing Kouji's intent. It was too late, though. Lobomon's data was already swirling around him, enhancing his strength, making him…

Kouji's mouth opened in a silent scream as something, he didn't know what, tore through his back and into his chest, ripping out what felt like the essence of his entire being. His strength, his power, it was all being forcibly sucked out of him, leaving him limp, weak, lifeless.

_~What does she think she's doing? She'll kill you both!~_

Light…that was why he couldn't see. He needed more light…

_~Just hold on, okay Kouji? Hold on…~_

"Mm…" That felt good. Slowly but surely, his limbs became suffused with warmth, life-giving warmth. Now he could see a figure rushing toward him, fire blazing from its armor. The image came and went, and Kouji finally lost consciousness.

"SHINYA!"

—

"Guys!" Tommy called for his friends, brushing away the dust that threatened to clog his eyes. Stifling a cough, he tried to make out shapes among all the fallen stone and debris. Of course, most of the lamps had been shattered in the aftermath of Meteormon's attack, and now the entire hallway was nearly pitch black. He'd just have to yell until someone heard him, if someone heard him… "Guys! Are you okay?"

Seconds later, Tommy got his answer. "Damn, Albino Gotsumon! I guess you're pretty badass after all!"

Tommy breathed a sigh of relief as he recognized the distinct groans of each of his friends. Sidling forward, he tried to pick out the shapes of their bodies in the dirt and gloom, only to lose his footing over an outcropping of rock. "Ow…" Tommy groaned, lying flat on his face, his nose pressing painfully into the dust. Pushing himself back to his feet, the young boy resolved to be more careful and continued his trek through the hazard-strewn hallway.

Soon, he found someone among the wreckage. "There you are, Tommy!" Zoe exclaimed happily, her outfit a pale pink blotch in the near-complete darkness. Once he was in range of her arms, Zoe wrapped Tommy up tight, holding her younger friend as if she'd never let go. But she did let go a few seconds later, realizing that he still needed to breathe. Then, after giving Tommy a brief once-over, she said, "I can't really tell in the dark, but from what I _can_ see, you look like you're in one piece."

"You too," Tommy replied with a smirk; he wasn't sure, but he thought he could see Zoe return his smile. To his relief, the strange resentment festering inside him didn't choose to lash out against Zoe's blatant babying. "Where's everyone else?"

"We're here!" JP's voice drifted from somewhere farther back in the rubble, and soon the rest of the gang mimicked his call. "Where are Gotsumon and the others?"

Suddenly, a huge piece of stone was flipped onto its side, and everyone could make out the faint glow of Meteormon's white-hued body in the gloom. There were some groans, and then Meteormon stated, "Elecmon and Gazimon are okay. I managed to shield them from the worse of the aftereffects."

"'Aftereffects'?" Shino repeated incredulously. "You call all of this the 'aftereffects'?"

"What else am I supposed to call it?" Meteormon retorted, sounding defensive. Soon, though, his maturity won out, and he sighed. "Okay, I'm sorry. I lost my temper and behaved recklessly. Forgive me?"

The others pretended to give this some thought, but the answer was obvious. "It's fine, Meteormon," Zoe reassured the mollified Digimon. "At least now we're free."

"Ah, freedom," JP proclaimed, waxing melodramatic. "Honestly, I didn't expect it to taste so much like explosion-blasted rocks."

"Then let's high-tail it out of here and get some fresh air!" Kira replied energetically. "Besides, Albino Gotsumon's attack probably attracted some attention, so instead of talking, we should really be running like hell before psycho bitch's henchmen show up to kick our Spirit-less asses."

"What about Hotaru, and Kouji and Kouichi?" Dai pointed out, more than a hint of worry evident in his voice. "Like you said, we don't even have our Spirits. We can't leave them all behind."

"Wow, you guys sure brought the house down!"

A bright green light suddenly descended over the ruined hallway, bouncing off the dust in strange patterns that made Tommy feel sick. Shutting his eyes to escape the glare, he listened as what sounded like hoof prints pounded toward him, then a booming, strangely familiar voice said, "Hey, you didn't have to go to all _this_ trouble, guys. I have a key!"

"Sagittarimon?" Okay, _that_ name he recognized. Tommy blinked once to test his vision, then when he was sure the dust had settled enough for light to seep clearly through it, he found his gaze settling on none other than the bumbling thief, Sagittarimon. Much like the last time they'd met, the centaur Digimon had a brown sack hanging from his shoulder, along with a rather clueless look on his face, and the green moss in his hand was casting its soft glow across the gloom. Suddenly wondering how Dai had known this creature's name before, Tommy shot Zoe a curious glance.

"He's supposed to be our guard," Zoe muttered a quick explanation just as Terriermon hopped nimbly from Sagittarimon's back, a broad grin on his face.

"Well, looks like this rescue mission went off without a hitch," the dog-like Digimon proclaimed with a slightly sarcastic edge to his voice.

Gazimon's sarcasm was more than slight. "Oh yeah, this is going so smoothly."

"What's going on, Terriermon?" Meteormon asked, transitioning quickly to business mode. "Who is this Digimon?"

"What, this big guy?" Terriermon said, patting Sagittarimon's leg a couple times as a sign of good faith. "No need to worry, Gotsumon, or whoever the heck you are right now. Sagittarimon's on our side."

"What?" JP's voice instantly rose in protest. "This guy works for Ilsemon! He's been keeping guard over our cell for her! What makes you think he's with us now?"

Terriermon didn't respond, nor did he have to respond. Hotaru did it for him. Landing with a resounding _thump_ next to Terriermon, the Warrior of Steel glanced over the shocked faces of his friends, finally settling on Dai. "Hey guys. Sorry I was captured early."

Ironically breaking the silence, Hotaru's words managed to thaw the others. "Hotaru!" Unable to contain his joy, Dai bounced eagerly up to his cousin, broad grin lighting up his face.

Hotaru returned the smile, reaching out a hand to ruffle Dai's hair. Warmed by his cousin's energy, he muttered, "I guess I had nothing to worry about. Should've known better than to think Ilsemon would get to you."

Dai's grin turned mischievous. "Of course not! I'm too tough for her!"

Once this reunion had been shared, the rest of the gang followed Dai's example and crowded around Hotaru, asking questions left and right. A bit embarrassed by all the attention, Hotaru raised his hand to stop the onslaught of voices. "I can tell you everything later. Right now, we have to escape."

"Yeah, but you don't happen to have your D-Tector on you right now, huh Taru?" Kira retorted, hiding her growing concern for their Spirits behind her nonchalance.

"Actually, he does," Terriermon interjected, gesturing for Sagittarimon to hand him something. The centaur did as instructed, removing the sack from around his shoulder and placing it on the ground before the others. Terriermon lifted the bag and held it open, giving the gang a full view of their D-Tectors nestled safely inside, along with various other items stolen from the former prisoners' pockets (aside from JP's chocolate, which had been evenly distributed among Ilsemon's followers).

There was silence for a moment, everyone's mouths agape in shock. Then Kira said, "I freakin' love being a Digidestined. Everything's so convenient for us!"

"Well, I knew where Ilsemon was keeping your friend from the start," Sagittarimon muttered, awkwardly trying to justify the convenience of the situation. "But Terriermon and Wizardmon found your obsessions."

"I guess you never learned the difference between 'obsessions' and 'possessions,'" Tommy mumbled to himself.

The others were more concerned with the name Sagittarimon had mentioned. As if receiving a sudden jolt, Shino flinched, looking past Sagittarimon's midsection to his upper back. "Wizardmon."

It took several moments, but Wizardmon reluctantly answered Shino's call, jumping down from Sagittarimon's back to stand before the gang. Guilt shone unrestrained from his eyes in the presence of his former adversaries, but at the same time, Shino could feel relief coming off the wizard Digimon in overwhelming waves. Unable to grasp what Wizardmon was playing at, Shino's expression hardened, not allowing himself any sympathy for his…whatever he and Wizardmon were at this point. "What are you doing here, Wizardmon?"

"Does it matter?" Kira retorted, grabbing her D-Tector from inside the sack. "I say we skip the questions and go straight to the pummeling."

"Fine by me," Zoe agreed, eyes blazing with anger.

Before they could do anything, though, Tommy and Meteormon put themselves between the gang and Wizardmon. "Guys, it's okay," Meteormon reassured, holding up his hands. "He's with us now."

"Bullshit," JP spat back, eyes trained on the pointy tip of Wizardmon's hat. "That thing's an absolute monster."

"I'm not denying that," Meteormon consented quietly. "Still, he gave himself up to us, and he hasn't yet given us a reason not to trust him."

_He gave himself up?_ Shino shot Wizardmon a confused look, seeking an explanation for his strange behavior.

Before any answers could be given, though, Zoe growled, "He's beyond our capacity to trust, beyond any hope of redemption at all! After what he did to Kouji…it's unforgivable!"

Oh, right. What Wizardmon had done to Kouji, to Seiko…how could that be forgiven? Shino wanted to remain loyal to Kouji and his friends, but still, he couldn't quench this persistent gnawing of…_sympathy_…for what was supposed to be his most hated foe. It didn't ease his confusion when Tommy said a moment later, "Guys, Wizardmon led us here. He helped us find you, and he found your D-Tectors. Doesn't that count for something?"

"Tommy has a point," Hotaru added, glancing thoughtfully at the wizard Digimon. "He threatened Sagittarimon earlier, when he saw me with him."

"Speaking of which, what's your deal?" Abandoning Wizardmon for the moment, JP turned his distrustful gaze onto Sagittarimon. "Why'd you break Taru out of his cell and bring him here? You're working for Ilsemon, aren't you?"

"Not anymore!" Sagittarimon announced proudly, puffing out his chest. "I'm a changed mon! (These are the jokes, people…) From now on, I'm gonna help you guys, just like one of those human world heroes Dai told me about!"

"I just said that I was excited for the Avengers movie," Dai mumbled, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. "But I'm glad we don't have to be enemies, Sagittarimon!"

"Seriously, convenient as heck," Kira muttered to herself.

_CRACK!_

And like that, the true extent of Meteormon's "aftereffects" became clear to everyone. The sound of splintering rock was so devastating for a moment that it caused everyone to cover their ears in pain. Then, just as suddenly as it had come, the noise stopped. But this wasn't the end of their problems, for soon afterward a tremor rocked the RMS, sending nearly everyone toppling to the ground. Spurred by the fissures spiderwebbing up the walls on all sides, Zoe shouted, "Run!"

Not needing to be told twice, the gang jumped up and sprinted after Wizardmon and Meteormon, the former knowing the fastest way out of the crumbling building. Tommy was about to follow when something grabbed his leg, holding him back as his friends turned the corner and dashed out of sight.

"Damn it, Albino Gotsumon, why couldn't you just pick the lock like a normal person?" Kira exclaimed, fighting to be heard against the crash of falling stone.

"I had a key!" Sagittarimon added exasperatedly.

"Is this really the time to be talking about this?" Meteormon retorted, rounding a bend with Wizardmon…

…and running straight into Witchmon's chest. "Holy crap, pervert!" the witch Digimon shrieked, raising her arm in preparation for a slap when she recognized her would-be assaulter. "Gotsu…no, Meteormon! Geez, what are you doing?"

Either ignoring or totally ignorant of Witchmon's profuse blush, Meteormon replied, "We're trying to get out of here before this whole place falls on top of us!"

"Yeah, we were kinda wondering what was up with that," Dragramon said, feigning nonchalance. "Oh, looks like you found the kids! Wait, aren't we missing a few?"

"Ilsemon took the twins," JP explained, using his arms as shields against the bits of stone falling from the ceiling like a demented hailstorm.

"My count says Tommy's gone, too," Dragramon stated, using her claws to keep track of the numbers. Looking around, the others realized that she was right; Tommy was missing.

"We have to go back for him!" Zoe cried, making a move to sprint down the hall in search of her friend. Witchmon, however, grabbed the girl's arm before she could get far.

"Hold your horses, Zee," the witch Digimon cautioned, flinching as her sprained arm, dealt by the annoyingly over-armored guards outside, became agitated by the strain of holding Zoe back. Noticing the look of concealed pain on Witchmon's face, Zoe ceased her struggle and listened. "Me and Dragra will go get him. Maybe we can find the twins, too."

"You two can't go back there alone!" Meteormon shouted, outraged by the mere thought of Witchmon's plan. "Let me stay; my body's not gonna be bothered by a few falling rocks."

"We can handle ourselves, Rocky," Dragramon retorted, giving her friend a toothy grin. "We're smart, we're tough, and we can fly, plus Witchy can create a barrier around us which'll be pretty useful when we're getting the kids out of here."

"But you could…" Unable to find a sufficient argument in his panic, Meteormon met and held Witchmon's eyes, trying to smolder her resolve with his silent pleas. It almost worked, but Witchmon managed to shake off the effects of her crush's desperation and mutter just loud enough for him to hear, "Wait outside, Meteormon. We'll meet you there."

"Wait!" With a nod from his sister, Wizardmon grabbed Meteormon's arm, dragging him further down the hall. Normally, Meteormon would have easily been able to shake off the physically weaker Digimon, but his limbs felt limp under the weight of Witchmon's decision. "Don't do this! Witchmon, Dragramon, please! I don't want to lose you, too!"

Witchmon flinched, but her resolve stayed firm as the rest of the group shuffled past her, shooting her and Dragramon encouraging looks as they continued to race toward the exit. Once they'd been swallowed up in the dimly lit hall, Witchmon let out a heavy sigh. "That definitely could've gone better."

"Eh, Gotsu's just flashing back to what happened with Gaomon," Dragramon said reassuringly, adding with a wink, "Hey, at least this proves he cares about you!"

Witchmon's mouth twitched into a cold smirk. "Yeah, we're best friends. That's all we ever were."

"Witchy…" Dragramon's sentence trailed off as something, a gut instinct of sorts, acted up inside her. It had been dormant for so long that she almost considered shrugging it off, but this feeling was there to tell her, to warn her, of _his_ presence, and she couldn't take it lightly.

"You okay, Dragra?" Witchmon asked, simultaneously erecting a barrier over their heads to protect them from the falling stone as she watched her friend's tail go taut, her wings flick open, and her eyes grow wide. Pulling out her broomstick, Witchmon muttered, "This can't be good. What's going on?"

Dragramon took a deep breath, trying to release some of the tension in her muscles. The fright in her eyes remained as she turned to Witchmon and said, "It's Darkie."

—

"Palmon, wait!" Tommy shouted, pulling desperately on the plant Digimon's arm as he was all but dragged down the hall after her. She didn't stop, as he'd wanted her to, but she did slacken their pace a bit. At least now Tommy didn't have to strain so hard to keep up without tripping over cracks in the floor. Now he could voice his questions. "Palmon, what's going on? Where are you taking me?"

"There's no time for explanations." With this curt reply, Palmon quickened their pace, leading Tommy down a seemingly random maze of hallways.

Fed up with his companion's mysterious behavior, Tommy dug his heels into the ground hard, steeling himself against any forward movement until his questions were answered. With barely-contained annoyance, Palmon stopped and let Tommy vent his confusion. "Palmon, where are we going? I can't follow you if you don't tell me why we're running around a building that's on the verge of collapse!"

"That's exactly why we have to hurry!" Palmon retorted, eyes blazing with a determination Tommy had never seen in her before. Then again, they'd only met once, and she'd been Ilsemon's prisoner at the time. But wait, wasn't she still Ilsemon's prisoner? Had she somehow managed to escape in all this chaos? Realizing that an explanation was in order if they were to get anywhere, Palmon began, "I was imprisoned in the cell next to the Legendary Warriors. They didn't know I was there, and Ilsemon threatened me not to speak to them. I suppose I was asleep when you came, since I woke up to a hole being blown through the wall by that Meteormon fellow. I heard your voice right away, but I bided my time until you were alone. The others don't need to get involved with this; in fact, the fewer of you, the better."

"What are you saying?" Tommy could barely keep up with her rapid words, but Palmon didn't intend to slow down and elaborate.

Instead, she pushed forward with her explanation. "When Hallucimon captured me near the Fortune Telling Village, he had someone else with him, another 'prisoner' of sorts. This prisoner didn't want to be free, though. For some reason, he wanted to see Ilsemon, and until recently, I had no idea why. But now I understand everything; Ilsemon's plans, his resolve, Takuya's involvement, and especially how to change his fate, even without his brother to slap sense into him."

Tommy had no idea how to respond to any of this. Who was she talking about? How was Takuya involved with this? Whose brother…?

"It all rests on your shoulders, Tommy," Palmon stated, a brief smile lighting up her weary face. "I know you can stop him. He talked about you all the time. If anyone can save him in Takuya's place, it's you. He'll listen to you."

"Who…?" Tommy still didn't get it. This person that Palmon kept mentioning, the one supposedly connected to both him and Takuya; who was it? Perhaps a Digimon they'd met before? But there was that word, "brother," that Palmon had used. Not a bond between Digimon, no, she'd used the term in a human sense, indicating a flesh and blood relation, a human relation. Was that it? Was there a human here? One that he and Takuya knew… "You don't mean…?"

"Hate to interrupt your conversation, but I'm looking for someone."

Surprised by this new voice, Tommy spun sharply on his feet, coming nose-to-snout with a sneering creature. Tommy backed up quickly, observing this newcomer with a wary eye. It was obviously a Digimon, dragon-like in appearance, but rather small for its menacing features. As it lowered itself onto all fours, Tommy counted down the row of red spikes running along the Digimon's back, eventually ending in a sharply-pointed tail. Its claws were the same blood red color, as were its leathery wings. What intimidated Tommy the most, though, were the dragon's scarlet eyes, glowing with an unmasked desire for carnage.

However, the dragon seemed at least partially subdued, so much as his obvious impatience would allow. "Not very talkative, are you? Fine by me, as long as you answer my question; where is my sister?"

Tommy and Palmon glanced at each other, not knowing what to tell this seemingly lost creature. "Um, I'm afraid we don't understand," Palmon replied after a moment.

The dragon's eyes narrowed to slits. "You're lying. I can smell her stench on you. You know exactly where she is. Admit it, and I might leave you be."

Tommy tensed as the dragon Digimon stepped forward, claws scraping anxiously against stone. This creature wanted to pounce, to tear, to mutilate, but for the sake of information on this "sister," he was holding himself back. _He's psychotic_, Tommy realized, coming to the conclusion that they needed to get away from this thing as soon as possible.

Palmon seemed to share this sentiment. "We'd love to help you find who you're looking for, but we're in a hurry. Please, let us be on our way."

"Wrong answer!" In a flash of teeth and claws, the dragon suddenly lunged, aiming straight for Tommy's unprotected chest. Tommy knew he wouldn't be able to Spirit Evolve fast enough to block the attack, and not even adrenaline could get him out of the way in time. The boy had about a second to prepare himself, and then…

Red claws stood poised just inches from Tommy's chest. With wide, panic-filled eyes, he had to force his legs to move backwards, putting some distance between his body and the dragon's lethal barbs. Once he deemed himself safe, Tommy had the wherewithal to wonder how he'd been saved in the first place. It wasn't long before he got his answer.

What had gone unseen by Tommy in his fright was now fully visible; a large, yeti-like creature towered before him, muscles rippling underneath its snow-white fur. Knotted braids of spike-tipped hair fell down its back in a cascade broken only by the intrusion of several bloody red talons. The creature's powerful arms hung limply at its sides, and as it swayed on its feet, Tommy knew the dragon had dealt irreversible damage to his savior.

Of course, he instantly recognized the Digimon standing before him. There was no mistaking that massive build, those brown, thick-skinned paws and feet, that blindingly pale fur. He held up his D-Tector, not knowing how this could happen. But the images of his Spirits flashed across the screen as if to tell him "No. We're both still in here."

Suddenly remembering Palmon, Tommy turned to his right, unable to watch as the dragon pulled its claws slowly, maliciously, out of its impaled prey. However, the plant Digimon was no longer standing beside him. He scanned the room several times, afraid that Palmon had panicked and run off alone. Fissures were snaking their way along the floor now, and it would only be a matter of time before this hallway succumbed to the rest of the building's destruction. He didn't want Palmon to get stuck by herself in the chaos, so he was about to go and look for her, letting this Warrior distract the dragon while he made his getaway.

However, something the dragon Digimon said next stopped him. "Ah, I see. A shape-shifter. I thought your kind was wiped out."

"Shape-shifter?" Was he talking about Tommy? But he hadn't gotten the chance to Spirit Evolve in all the confusion. Did the dragon already know who he and his friends were?

The red and black creature wasn't looking at Tommy, though. Its amused gaze was trained on the yeti Digimon as it continued to sway in place, clutching the data-filled hole in its chest as its Fractal Code swirled around it. Tommy was terrified by the sight, but he soon found he couldn't take his eyes away from his savior's lurching body. Pity for the dying creature held him in place, along with its strange resemblance to…

Suddenly, the yeti spoke, though its voice was much different from what Tommy had imagined. It sounded almost…feminine. "You…won't harm…this boy…he is…"

"Yes, I know who he is," the dragon interrupted, rolling its eyes. "I can tell by the thing he's holding. One of the Legendary Warriors, here to save the day." Shooting Tommy a cocky smirk, it added, "Good job helping out _this_ thing. You're just grade-A hero material, aren't you?"

Tommy didn't respond, no longer paying any attention to the miniscule dragon. (_Darkgramon:_ Miniscule is going a bit far…) Now all his concentration was focused on his rescuer as its muscular body slowly began to shrink. Its white fur turned a greenish hue as it got smaller and smaller; in fact, it ceased to be fur at all, but rather a green, plant-like skin covering the now Rookie-sized Digimon. Turning her flower-topped head around, Palmon gave Tommy a weak smile. "Sorry…I didn't tell you…"

"Palmon!" Tommy rushed forward, catching the plant Digimon before she hit the ground. To his dismay, there was a hole ripped through Palmon's chest as well. A shape-shifter…a supposedly extinct race of Digimon, destroyed due to their power… "Hallucimon…?"

Palmon nodded her head slowly, tears forming in her beady black eyes. "I went into hiding…in the Fortune Telling Village…as a Palmon. Forgive me…I couldn't tell anyone…for fear of discovery…"

"It doesn't matter," Tommy said quietly, hopefully sounding more reassuring than he felt. He thought he should add something more to ease Palmon's guilt, but he didn't know what to do anymore. Palmon was dying in his arms, and there was nothing he could do…

Meanwhile, the dragon Digimon stood above the two, its snout drooping with boredom. "I suppose you don't know anything, or you wouldn't have blown your cover by transforming. Oh well, I suppose you've given me some entertainment, so I'll let the boy live…for now." With that, the creature slunk back into the shadows, headed for the crumbling passages Tommy and Palmon had left behind. Tommy hoped the dragon got buried in the rubble.

"At least I saved someone…" Tommy's attention returned to Palmon once their adversary was out of sight, listening intently to her final words. "I apologize, Tommy…my choice of transformation…was in poor taste. I haven't changed forms…in so long…with you standing there…it was the first thing that came to mind…"

"None of that matters," Tommy repeated, his eyes glistening with regret. "Palmon, I'm sorry. I…I couldn't save you…"

Palmon, with some difficulty, lifted her leafy hand to Tommy's mouth, halting his apology. "Don't worry…about me. My death…was inevitable…I'm a fugitive of genocide, after all. But…that's not important now. Tommy…he still needs your help…he's been tricked by Ilsemon…you have to save him from her…"

Momentarily swallowing his grief, Tommy asked, "Is he a human, like me?" Palmon nodded. "He's Takuya's brother?" Again, Palmon nodded.

"He's Shinya."

Nod.

With his suspicion confirmed, Tommy listened ever more closely to Palmon's words. "I didn't know…about Shinya's relation…to you, or to Takuya…he never told me. I thought he was just…some random human child…he wanted to be here…I didn't think there was anything you could do…"

Taking a big, shaky breath, Palmon finally made her confession. "When you found me last time…in my cell…Shinya was imprisoned right across from me. He hid in a corner…he didn't let you see him…he only told me afterwards…that he knew you…"

Tommy's eyes grew wide with shock. "He was there the whole time…?"

"It wasn't your fault," Palmon said sternly, conviction shining in her gaze. "I didn't tell you he was there…I've played right into fate's hand…but no more. Tommy, I thought my prophecy foretold Takuya's death, when really…the flame…it was Shinya's humanity. Ilsemon will use him…to resurrect her brother."

"What do you mean?" Tommy asked, almost afraid to hear the answer.

"Shinya…will become…Lucemon…"

"Palmon!" With this last chilling message, Shamanmon's apprentice disintegrated into fragments of data, leaving her Fractal Code swirling atop Tommy's lap. Fighting through his tears, the boy lifted his D-Tector and scanned Palmon's Code, promising to keep it safe. Tommy was so focused on this task that he didn't notice Palmon's data disperse into the surrounding area. No Digi-Egg was left behind.

He also didn't notice the hallway beginning to crumble around him until Witchmon cried, "Hey Tommy, you might want to consider high-tailing it out of here, like, right now!"

Tommy's head shot up in surprise as bits of stone rained down from the collapsing structure around him. Before he could even jump to his feet, Witchmon swooped down and plucked the young boy off the floor, wrapping her arm securely around his waist as he settled himself on her broomstick. Once she deemed him safe, Witchmon announced, "I don't think this place's gonna hold out much longer, Dragra! We'll just have to trust that Ilsemon's keeping the twins safe…gosh, I hate saying that!"

Past the rocks bouncing off Witchmon's barrier, Tommy saw a large purple dragon swoop into view, a creature he could only assume was Dragramon's Champion form, Drakemon. Swinging her head around, the dragon Digimon shot her friend a beseeching look. "He was here, Witchy. I know he was. I can feel it!"

"Well, he's not here now!" Witchmon retorted, her voice rising in panic. "At least we know he's in the area. We have a lead. But if we run around here looking for him, we'll be squashed flatter than a bunch of little beetles!" (Obscure episode 33 reference FTW!) (_JP:_ Seriously, why?)

Drakemon's head swished back and forth, caught between what she wanted to do and what was best for everyone else. Finally, she conceded defeat. "Okay, Witchy, you're right! We'll look for him later, though!"

"Of course," Witchmon replied, her arm tightening around Tommy as they ascended toward the collapsing stone roof. "Hang on, kid! This might get a little bumpy!"

—

Ilsemon's Rose Morning Star was falling down at an alarming rate. Everywhere, the structural support of the building was cracking along the fault line created by Meteormon's attack. It was a miracle it had lasted this long, but now, surely, it would fall to its demise. That was a good enough reason for Darkgramon to get the hell out of there, sister or no sister.

Weaving his way easily through the wreckage and rubble, the dark dragon looked for an opening through which he could make his escape. His search proved fruitless; there were no chinks in this chaotic mess. Soon, he'd be buried alive…

Ha!

"As if something as petty as a collapsing building could take me down," Darkgramon chuckled, letting a power-filled string of data surround his body cocoon-style. He emerged from the data stream in a much larger, more menacing form. Flexing his huge red claws, DarkDrakemon let out a growl of satisfaction. "Haven't used my Champion form in awhile. Pity I have to waste it on a bunch of falling rocks."

Just as he was preparing to make his escape, something in the rubble caught DarkDrakemon's eye. Shoving effortlessly through the heaped piles of stone, he finally found the object he'd seen before. It was an eyeball, rather large in size, with a small red-rimmed pupil. DarkDrakemon flinched as the eye began to rotate in its socket, finally locking its gaze on him. Staring down his snout at the strange item, the dragon muttered, "Either Mad-Eye Moody's head is _way_ bigger than I thought, or you're still attached to something under that rock."

"Go away," a voice suddenly spoke from underneath the wreckage, muffled but nonetheless intelligible enough for DarkDrakemon's sensitive hearing to pick up. "Leave me here," it continued harshly. "I told her I'd stay…no matter what…"

"'Her,' huh?" DarkDrakemon cocked his head, sensing a familiar aura tickling at the back of his mind. He spent several moments trying to decipher this sensation, and then it came to him. "Of course, Nina! You're one of hers!"

The voice was silent, refusing to acknowledge its connection to Nina. But DarkDrakemon could now feel the darkness surrounding this creature like a thick fog. Crouching down, the dragon tried to peer past the creepy eyeball in order to get a better view of its owner. "Wow, no wonder Nina picked you up. Not many Digimon could survive under a weight like this for long. You got industrial-strength armor or something?"

"Leave," the creature repeated, its outline barely visible underneath all the stones. "I deserve this…just let it crush me…"

DarkDrakemon sat back on his haunches, the eyeball following his movements the entire time. This was certainly a predicament he'd gotten himself into. Not only had he stumbled upon Ilsemon's show, but Nina was involved in all this scheming as well. He hadn't met with Nina in years, not since that day…why was her new host skulking around the RMS, anyway, and why wasn't she with him? DarkDrakemon had questions, and this dying creature was the only link to his answers.

Using his powerful wings as a barrier against the crumbling stone, DarkDrakemon lifted his paw into the air. As it rose, red sparks began to flicker at the tips of his claws, then tongues of flame licked around his skin. Smirking at the trapped creature's eye, he said, "You may not think so, but this is your lucky day, Mr. Eyeball. I owe Nina a favor, and saving you should cover my debt."

With that, he slashed at the stone with a flame-engulfed paw. "Demon's Claw!"

—

Kouji opened his eyes to find the world around him falling. Rocks of varying sizes rained down from the sky, or so it appeared. But Kouji quickly realized the truth. It wasn't the overhanging dark clouds that were causing this downpour, but rather the stone roof of the RMS breaking apart, with him lying in the center of the fray.

Gathering what little strength he still possessed, Kouji gripped his D-Tector tightly (he hadn't dropped it after losing consciousness, miraculously) and, with his other hand, tried to push himself into a sitting position. Concentrating on this task, he was unprepared when the floor split along a ragged crack in the stone. Part of the floor remained attached to the wall. The other part, upon which Kouji sat, wasn't so lucky.

Gritting his teeth, Kouji tried to find a groove or crack in the floor to serve as a handhold, but the stone was as smooth as before, and as it tilted on its side, so too was Kouji's body forced to obey the laws of gravity. He scrapped his feet against the stone, hoping to at least slow his descent, but to no avail. Soon there was no more floor to support him, and he felt himself freefalling into the dust-laden air. The sensation was familiar (he'd been pushed off every high precipice imaginable in the Digital World…), but this time he couldn't muster the strength to Spirit Evolve. Lobomon felt miles away from him, farther away than ever before. The Warrior couldn't save him now. He was on his own, but he couldn't do anything to save himself.

_~Kouji!~_ Ellie's voice came to him, but even that was muffled by the whooshing of air past his ears as he fell. So, this was it. In the end, all the hard work he'd put into this, all the trials he'd gone through, all the things he'd learned, had amounted to nothing. Now his adventure was over. Eventually, the ground would come, and then the splat…

Suddenly, Kouji's descent was halted. There was a moment of intense pain, as if his shoulder had been wrenched free from its socket. However, the pressure on his arm soon decreased, miraculously leaving it intact. Now his body was swinging like a pendulum, back and forth, suspended by some mysterious force.

Tearing his gaze away from the unforgiving abyss into which he'd nearly fallen, Kouji looked up and immediately met the passive eyes of his rescuer. Frozen by the creature's icy stare, Kouji watched as a smirk distorted the monster'sface. It was holding itself aloft in this chaos, flapping its deceptively pure white wings, holding Kouji's weight with obvious ease.

Seeing this demon floating above him, with such a look of triumph on its face, Kouji knew that they'd lost. Ilsemon had what she wanted now. Shinya was gone, and in his place…

Quickly tiring of Kouji's horror-struck face, Lucemon let the boy's arm slip from his grasp, allowing him to sink farther down, farther down, into the black…

Once more, Kouji was snatched out of the air, and then half-crushed against the armor plating of his digital rescuer. He couldn't get a good look at the creature from his position, but he could feel the warmth penetrating through its armor. It wasn't just the unusually high body heat; he recognized the armor covering the Digimon's chest, the sharp metal claws pressed firmly against his side, the strength of the arm holding him in place. "Takuya."

"Yeah." BurningGreymon gave a curt reply, beating his wings rapidly to keep himself aloft, staring at the spot where Lucemon had been seconds before. "He's gone."

An image of Shinya flashed through Kouji's mind, and with it came thoughts of his own brother. "Oh crap, Kouichi!" Fighting through the exhaustion clouding his brain, Kouji let his senses run wild in the chaotic surroundings, searching desperately for that one glimmer of light in all the darkness, that pinprick of calm sunk within vast oceans of bleak insanity. On the verge of passing out, Kouji soon stopped this erratic hunt for his brother. Losing consciousness wouldn't help Kouichi now. At least he knew he wasn't dead. If Kouichi were dead, he'd feel much worse.

Having heard Kouji's exclamation, BurningGreymon muttered in a slightly deadpan voice, "I've got him." The Beast Warrior shifted Kouji's weight in his grasp, giving him a better view of his twin. Kouichi was also cradled in BurningGreymon's grasp, though he seemed to be taking special care not to jostle his friend's limp body. Strangely, even in this unconscious state, Kouichi's D-Tector was still clutched firmly between his fingers.

Kouji let the tension in his muscles relax, seeing that his brother was unharmed. Then he clutched BurningGreymon's arm tightly, preparing himself for their escape. "Okay. Let's go."

Kouji barely had time to wonder how the others would break free from their cell before BurningGreymon shot straight up, heading for the only clear opening out of the RMS. It was harder, Kouji observed, for him to dodge through the falling rocks without the use of his arms, but he seemed so blindly focused on his task that the inconvenience barely fazed him. Kouji's head swarmed with possibilities for his friend's rather blunt attitude; it wasn't like Takuya to be this distant, especially after what they'd all been through. None of Kouji's conclusions were very pleasant, but one in particular terrified him above the rest. _Had Takuya seen Shinya?_

Finally bursting into the open, BurningGreymon paused to stare at the crumbling remains of Ilsemon's fortress. Kouji noticed the Digimon's eyes darting desperately through the rubble. Observing his friend's panic, Kouji realized that his speculations weren't so far-fetched. Mere seconds earlier, he'd probably worn that same look on his face, desperately searching for his twin. The truth showed plainly in his friend's eyes. Takuya knew that his brother was here. And now he was looking for him.

Realizing an explanation was inevitable, Kouji hesitantly began, "Takuya…Shinya is…"

Kouji's words were carried off by the wind as BurningGreymon zipped through the air, shooting like a missile towards the nearby woods and the safety of the Resistance tunnels. Clutching his friend's digitally-enhanced arm, Kouji squeezed his eyes shut. _Maybe it's better that I don't tell him._

It seemed as if they'd only been flying for a few seconds when Kouji's eyes were wrenched open, his guts twisted by the stomach-churning sensation of freefalling. He was still in BurningGreymon's clutches, but already streams of data were devouring the fiery creature, leaving nothing between Kouji's body and the rock hard ground. Luckily, BurningGreymon hadn't been flying at a very high altitude, but Kouji's collision with the ground still felt like a sharp punch to the gut. Several more blows descended as his body skipped and flailed across the dirt's surface like a stone across water. Then, thankfully, he came to a halt, lying with his limbs haphazardly splayed around him.

The Digital World was extremely kind or Kouji was just abnormally lucky; either way, he regained his senses moments after hitting the earth to find that none of his limbs were broken. He'd certainly attained a few bumps and bruises, but it was nothing from which he couldn't recover. Though he was fully conscious, it took his vision a few extra seconds to stop spinning, and when it did he found Kouichi's crumpled body lying several feet away. To Kouji's horror, he wasn't moving.

"Kouichi." Kouji forced himself to stand, and then ran as quickly as possible to his brother's side. Up close, Kouichi's condition didn't seem as dire. Instead of the unnerving stillness he'd observed from far away, Kouji could now see the slight rise and fall of Kouichi's chest as he breathed. "Kouichi?"

As if in answer to an unspoken question, Kouichi's hand began to twitch, his eyelids fluttering and pushing against some invisible force of drowsiness which had taken hold of his body. Aided by Kouji's coaxing, Kouichi soon won the struggle to wakefulness, his eyes snapping wide open. "What happened?"

"Don't…" Kouji's caution went unheeded as Kouichi planted the palms of his hands face down in the dirt, trying unsuccessfully to push his body upright. Hooking an arm under both his brother's shoulders, Kouji helped pull him into a sitting position, though he had to lean heavily against Kouji for support. Despite his outward exhaustion, Kouichi's eyes burned a fiery blue. "What happened?" he repeated, his gaze resting on the demolished remains of the RMS, sticking out like tombstones on the bleak horizon.

Kouji's silence was answer enough. "Damn it," Kouichi cursed, hanging his head in weary defeat. "Damn it all." Though he said nothing, Kouji was inclined to agree with his twin. Damn it all.

_Huff, huff_. The sound of labored breathing soon caught Kouji's attention. Turning to his right, he watched as Takuya tested his obviously shaky balance. It had taken a vast amount of effort for the goggle-head just to rise to his feet, so great was his fatigue. But he brushed his weariness aside as he began to stagger forward, eyes trained on the ruined RMS. Realizing what his friend intended to do, Kouji shouted, "Takuya, stop!"

To his surprise, Takuya did stop, though it took some effort for him to halt his forward momentum. He didn't turn, so Kouji continued speaking to his friend's back. "You can't go back there. Look at yourself! You can barely stand, and we're in no better shape. Blindly rushing in and getting yourself killed won't help him…" Kouji trailed off there, unable to state what they all knew. No one stirred for what felt like hours. Then suddenly, Takuya whipped his head around and spoke.

"He's back there…my little brother…she had him all along…and you helped her destroy him! Light, darkness, you both gave her exactly what she needed to finish him off! Now he's gone! My brother is gone, and you didn't save him! It's your fault! You killed him! You killed my—"

"Taki!" Kira launched herself at Takuya's back, locking him in a tight embrace before he even had the opportunity to turn. His wide eyes momentarily gleamed with shock, and then he lowered his head, his expression becoming unfathomable.

The rest of the gang soon shuffled around Kira and Takuya, anxious to check that the twins were unharmed. Though they were eager to see Takuya as well, they'd let Kira have her moment before cutting in.

Kouichi was all but wrenched from Kouji and pulled into Zoe's arms, her annoyance with him overshadowed by her relief in his safety. Rather than verbally respond to her soft coos of affection, Kouichi wrapped his arms tightly around her, pulling her closer, absorbing her heat. He felt ice cold, and her body was like a furnace.

Unable to comprehend all the questions bombarding him, Kouji had resorted to taking a mental headcount of all his friends, just to make sure no one was missing. He saw right away that Tommy wasn't among them, but he could very well be waiting back at the Resistance base; there was JP, Dai, Hotaru, Shino, and Zoe, of course; he could see Gotsumon, Sagittarimon, three other Digimon he couldn't identify, and…

Shino noticed Kouji's gaze settle on Wizardmon, and without a moment's hesitation, he placed himself between the two. At first, Kouji seemed bewildered by this gesture. Then his eyes narrowed to slits. "What are you doing, Shino?"

"He's with us now, Kouji," Shino replied in a surprisingly calm voice. He almost couldn't believe that, despite the glare Kouji was shooting at him, he could retain such composure. All for Wizardmon's sake. "He turned his back on Ilsemon and helped rescue us. We don't need to fight him anymore."

Kouji snorted contemptuously. "You think I'll kill him right here? I'm in no condition to give him a proper sendoff. Besides, he doesn't deserve such a swift ending. It's actually better for me that he's not with Ilsemon. Now I can draw it out."

By now, everyone's attention had turned to the inevitable confrontation unfolding between Kouji and Wizardmon. Though the others would rather have this argument put off until they were somewhere safer, they were willing to let it play out. Even those who'd shown signs of warming up to Wizardmon didn't defend him now, believing Kouji's wrath was justified in its intensity.

Knowing he'd be on his own, Shino glanced back at Wizardmon, trying to decide whether this creature's life was worth ostracizing himself from his friends. All he could see of the wizard Digimon was the tip of his pointy hat, so low was his head bowed to the ground. His eyes were hidden, but this one gesture told Shino everything. Wizardmon was more than willing to endure whatever form Kouji's vengeance took, realizing that the boy deserved some closure for his murdered friend, and that he deserved punishment for his involvement in her death. For that reason, Shino was going to defend him.

"If you want to get to Wizardmon," Shino stated, his face lit eerily by his D-Tector's glowing screen, "you'll have to take me down first."

Everyone else seemed shocked by this announcement, but Kouji's mind was sharp as always. Glancing back at Wizardmon, he smirked. "So, that thing finally managed to corrupt you."

Wizardmon's head shot up. "No, that's not what's going on!" he said, the words tumbling from his mouth almost faster than he could form them. "Please, don't hurt comrade on my account. I don't know why he's doing this…"

Shino kept his eyes fixed on Kouji, but he could practically feel Wizardmon's pleading gaze boring through his back. Nevertheless, he continued, "Do you think I'm being manipulated right now, Kouji? Can you really not see how strongly I feel about this? I thought you were smarter than that."

Kouji's arm began to twitch, as if it wanted nothing more than to lunge out and shove Shino out of the way, but he held himself back. "Shino," he muttered, a hint of indecision lacing his voice. "Don't make me do this to you."

"You don't have to do anything," Shino replied. "Just let it go."

Noticing the anger that descended over Kouji's face, JP managed to grab him before he had a chance to throw himself at Shino. Gotsumon, Hotaru, and Dai moved in to help while Kouji hurled furious epithets at his friend. "You idiot! You think I can just forget what that bastard did when now I have to see her every single day! You're defending a murderer, Shino! You're like his accomplice! You—"

"Shut up, pretty boy!"

—

"Hey, there are the others!" Witchmon proclaimed happily, seeing their friends grouped close to the edge of the forest.

"I guess Gotsumon had to make sure you were safe before heading back to the tunnels," Drakemon remarked, swooping closer to her friend's broomstick and giving her a conspiratorial wink.

Tommy chuckled slightly as Witchmon's face turned crimson. "Would you just shut it already, Dragra? He was worried about you, too!"

"Whatever," Drakemon muttered with a smirk, flapping her wings to catch a sudden gust of wind. "First one to the forest gets to give Gotsumon a peck on the cheek!"

"What?" Witchmon exclaimed, watching as Drakemon caught a ride on an air current which shot her far ahead of her "competition." Indignantly, Witchmon gripped the handle of her broomstick tightly. "Hang on, Tommy. This could get crazy."

Not knowing how her flying could get crazier than their escape from the RMS, Tommy flattened himself against Witchmon's broom, hanging on for dear life as she zipped forward at what he thought was probably an unsafe speed. _Note to self: never take rides from Witchmon_, he thought as they careened ahead, the wind threatening to whip the hat off his head. He cautiously reached up with one hand to hold it in place, and as he did their pace began to slow until they finally stopped altogether, hovering in midair.

Tommy's eyes blinked open, settling on the one who had brought Witchmon to this sudden halt. Both his and Witchmon's gazes were trained on Takuya as she lowered them down to the earth. He was wrapped in Kira's arms, his head resting on her shoulder as his body shook from crying. No one else was talking, so it was easy to hear his pitiful whimpers, even from the air. Kira was rubbing her hands methodically across his back, comforting him in any way she could, not understanding where his grief was coming from. But Tommy understood perfectly, recalling what Palmon had told him. Once their feet hit the ground, they could hear the name being mumbled over and over between Takuya's sobs, and Tommy's suspicions were confirmed.

"…Shinya…"

—

_madjack89:_ Yay, I finally finished chapter 44!

_Dai:_ Cookies all around!

_Takuya: *glares*_

_madjack89:_ Heh heh…so, did the rest of you enjoy the chapter?

_JP:_ Well, we're not captives anymore, but…

_Zoe:_ Now we have him to deal with.

_Lucemon: *smirks*_

_madjack89:_ Yup, we had a couple new villains introduced this chapter, though I'm sure you're all familiar with Lucy here!

_Lucemon: *raises eyebrow*_ Lucy?

_madjack89:_ Darkgramon also _finally_ made his way into the story. Sorry it took so long, GarnettFox!

_Darkgramon:_ Looks like I get to have some fun now…

_Everyone: *sweatdrop*_

_madjack89:_ And now that I've gotten this major plot point out of the way, the story can finally start moving toward its conclusion, and then it's on to the threequel!

_Kouji:_ Oh god, there's going to be a third one of these…

_madjack89: *mockingly*_ Wah, I'm Kouji Minamoto, and I have to whine about everything! Wah!

_Kira: *laughs hysterically*_ Madjack, you rock my socks!

_madjack89:_ Why thank you, Kira!

_Kouji: *sighs*_

_Shino:_ Wait, I just realized something.

_Kouichi:_ What?

_Shino:_ Well, at the end of chapter 42, Duskmon was about to stab Hotaru.

_Zoe:_ He was, wasn't he? But Hotaru is fine…

_Shino:_ Remember how Duskmon corrupted Kouichi for Nina? He was stabbed…with a glowy sword…

_Zoe and Kouichi: *read that part of chapter*_ Oh shit…

_Dai:_ Don't be silly, guys! Hotaru is a-okay! Right, Taru?

_Hotaru:_ …

_Dai:_ Hotaru…?

_Hotaru:_ …

_Zoe and Kouichi:_ Oh shit…

_madjack89:_ See ya next time, everyone!

_Tommy:_ And R.I.P., Palmon.

_Kouji:_ Your cryptic predictions will be missed…kind of.

(PS: Please tell me some of you recognize the song reference in the title. If you don't, I suggest you look it up post-haste!)


End file.
